Structural Integrity of the Pinwheel Galaxy

Galex_glx2008-01f_img02_1024

galex_glx2008-01f_img02 February 21st, 2008

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The structural integrity of M101, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, is revealed in this classic image from GALEX.

Unlike our closest large galactic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, both young and old stars are evenly distributed along M101's tightly wound spiral arms. Blue shows the presence of hot, young stars that formed about 10 million years ago, and regions that glow yellow harbor older, cooler stars that are over 100-million years old.

M101 stretches twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy, and is located approximately 27 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

This image of the Pinwheel Galaxy is a two-color composite, where far-ultraviolet light is blue, and near-ultraviolet light is red.

Provider: Galaxy Evolution Explorer

Image Source: /image/galex/glx2008-01f_img02

Curator: Galaxy Evolution Explorer

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M101 • Pinwheel Galaxy
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
27,000,000 light years

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue GALEX (FUV) Ultraviolet (Far-UV) 150.0 nm
Yellow GALEX (NUV) Ultraviolet (Near-UV) 230.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Yellow
Galex_glx2008-01f_img02_1280
×
ID
glx2008-01f_img02
Subject Category
C.5.1.1.  
Subject Name
M101, Pinwheel Galaxy
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2008-02-21
Lightyears
27,000,000
Redshift
27,000,000
Reference Url
/image/galex/glx2008-01f_img02
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
GALEX, GALEX
Instrument
FUV, NUV
Color Assignment
Blue, Yellow
Band
Ultraviolet, Ultraviolet
Bandpass
Far-UV, Near-UV
Central Wavelength
150, 230
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Galaxy Evolution Explorer
URL
http://www.galex.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
City
State/Province
Postal Code
Country
Rights
Publisher
Galaxy Evolution Explorer
Publisher ID
galex
Resource ID
Resource URL
/image/galex/glx2008-01f_img02
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2023-04-12T00:42:57Z
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
27,000,000 light years

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NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA’s Science Activation program, which strives to further enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively and efficiently with learners of all ages.