The Pinwheel Galaxy – Messier 101 (M101 or NGC 5457)
The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 170,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of between 100,000 and 120,000 light-years. It has around a trillion stars.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation: Ursa Major
Right ascension: 14h 03m 12.6s
Declination: +54° 20′ 57″
Distance: 20.9 ± 1.8 Mly
Apparent magnitude (V): 7.9
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, 45 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats, processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: January 31, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
The Pinwheel Galaxy – Messier 101 (M101 or NGC 5457)
The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy 21 million light-years (6.4 megaparsecs) away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 170,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of between 100,000 and 120,000 light-years. It has around a trillion stars.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation: Ursa Major
Right ascension: 14h 03m 12.6s
Declination: +54° 20′ 57″
Distance: 20.9 ± 1.8 Mly
Apparent magnitude (V): 7.9
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, 45 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats, processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: January 31, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).