M51, Whirlpool Galaxy

Noirlab_noao1309a_1024

noirlab_noao1309a July 25th, 2013

Credit: K. Rhode, M. Young and WIYN/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/

The spiral galaxy M51, (the Whirlpool Galaxy) observed with the ODI camera on the WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, May 2013. Even though the galaxy is almost 30 million light years away, the image clearly shows clusters of young, hot stars that light up the spiral arms. Threaded through the arms are dark “dust lanes”, where sooty material left over from previous generations of stars has settled. More dust lanes can be seen in the bridge of luminous stars and gas that connects Messier 51 to its companion, the peculiar galaxy NGC 5195, in the upper part of the image. For more details, and an alternate version of this image, see NOAO press release 1309.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao1309a/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
Noirlab_noao1309a_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 29m 53.3s
DEC = 47° 24’ 8.1”
Orientation
North is 0.4° CW
Field of View
33.3 x 31.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Canes Venatici

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
WIYN-3.5m (ODI) (None) -
Noirlab_noao1309a_1280
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ID
noao1309a
Subject Category
Subject Name
M51, Whirlpool Galaxy
Credits
K. Rhode, M. Young and WIYN/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/
Release Date
2013-07-25T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao1309a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope
Instrument
ODI
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
None
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
202.4720272, 47.40225774
Reference Dimension
8000.0, 7450.0
Reference Pixel
4135.964478, 6033.137802
Scale
-6.92e-05, 6.93e-05
Rotation
-0.367675382
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NSF's NOIRLab
URL
https://noirlab.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
950 North Cherry Ave.
City
Tucson
State/Province
AZ
Postal Code
85719
Country
USA
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
NSF's NOIRLab
Publisher ID
noirlab
Resource ID
noao1309a
Metadata Date
2024-10-02T11:52:26.687366
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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