The Whirlpool Galaxy
Depicts: M51, NGC 5194, The Whirlpool Galaxy, IRAS 13277+4727
Copyright: Nino Panagia (Space Telescope Science Institute and European Space Agency) and NASA
Astronomers estimate that it is about 400 million years old and has a mass 40 million times larger than our Sun.
The concentration of stars is about 5,000 times higher than in our solar neighborhood, the Milky Way Galaxy. We would see a continuously bright sky if we lived near the bright center.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
