Photo of the Day

The Whirlpool Galaxy

Tuesday 13 October 2026

Charles Messier discovered it on 13 October 1773.

A spiral galaxy seen face-on, a bright core wound with blue arms speckled pink, and a smaller yellowish galaxy at the end of one arm — Space telescope image · 2005

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and its small companion, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. This mosaic was released for Hubble's 15th anniversary in 2005.

Fun facts

It was the first galaxy anyone saw spiral arms in: Lord Rosse sketched them in 1845 using his huge telescope in Ireland. source ↗
The yellowish blob at the end of one arm is a smaller galaxy, NGC 5195, whose gravity is pulling at the Whirlpool. source ↗
It's roughly 25–30 million light-years away, so we're seeing light that left it long before humans existed. source ↗
Under dark skies you can find it with binoculars, near the end of the Big Dipper's handle. source ↗

Image: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) & the Hubble Heritage Team
Licence: Public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons