• Key Information

  • Whirlpool Galaxy

  • Type
    Galaxy (grand-design spiral)
  • Diameter
    76,900 light years
  • Distance
    31,000,000 light years
  • Total Stars
    160 billion stars
  • Date of Discovery
    October 13, 1773, (Charles Messier)
  • Other Names
    Question Mark Galaxy, Rosse's Galaxy, M51a, NGC 5194, UGC 8493, PGC 47404, VV 001a, VV 403, Arp 85, GC 3572
  • Learning Point
  • The Whirlpool Galaxy is an almost perfect example of a spiral galaxy, the first classified as such, and has a close neighbour interacting with one of its outer arms.
  • Project
  • Who and when was the Whirlpool Galaxy discovered, and what other unusual things do we know about it?
  • Location
  • Located in
    Canes Venatici constellaton, within the Local Cluster (of galaxies)
  • Fun Facts
  • The nearby interacting galaxy is called NGC 5195 and is a dwarf galaxy
  • The galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier, and was included in his catalogue of nebulae.
  • In 1845, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, employing a 72-inch reflecting telescope at Birr Castle, Ireland, found that the Whirlpool possessed a spiral structure, the first "nebula" to be known to have one.
  • On 22 January 2019, a supernova impostor, designated AT2019abn, was discovered in Messier 51.