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Credit & Copyright: F. Summers, J. DePasquale, and D. Player
(STScI);
Music:
Into the Wormhole
(Jingle Punks via Youtube)
Explanation:
What would it look like to fly over a spiral galaxy?
To help visualize this, astronomers and animators at the
Space Telescope Science Institute
computed a
virtual flyby of the
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)
using data and images from the
Hubble Space Telescope.
At only 25 million
light years
distant and fully 50 thousand light years across,
the Whirlpool is one of the brightest and
most picturesque galaxies on the sky.
Visible during the
virtual flyby are spiral arms
dominated by
young blue stars,
older lighter-colored stars,
dark lanes of dust, and bright red
emission nebulae.
Many galaxies far in the distance can be seen right through
M51.
The visualization should be considered a
time-lapse,
because otherwise the speed of the virtual camera would need to be
very near the speed of light.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: M 51 - spiral galaxy - Whirlpool galaxy
Publications with words: M 51 - spiral galaxy - Whirlpool galaxy
See also:
- APOD: 2025 August 22 Á A Tale of Two Nebulae
- APOD: 2025 August 19 Á Giant Galaxies in Pavo
- APOD: 2025 August 18 Á NGC 1309: A Useful Spiral Galaxy
- APOD: 2025 July 4 Á NGC 6946 and NGC 6939
- APOD: 2025 June 30 Á NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
- APOD: 2025 June 19 Á NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
- Rubin's Galaxy