Messier 51
E493645
Messier 51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, is a famous face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici noted for its striking structure and interaction with a companion galaxy.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Whirlpool Galaxy | 1 |
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
interacting galaxy system
ⓘ
spiral galaxy ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
M51
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
M51a NERFINISHED ⓘ NGC 5194 NERFINISHED ⓘ Whirlpool Galaxy NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| apparentMagnitudeV | 8.4 ⓘ |
| apparentSize | 11.0 × 7.8 arcminutes ⓘ |
| belongsToGalaxyGroup |
Canes Venatici II Group
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
M51 Group NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| bestSeenInMonth | May ⓘ |
| cataloguedBy | Charles Messier NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| contains | supermassive black hole at its center ⓘ |
| declination | +47° 11′ 43″ ⓘ |
| discoveredBy | Charles Messier NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| discoveryDate | 1773 ⓘ |
| distanceFromEarth |
about 23 million light-years
ⓘ
about 7 megaparsecs ⓘ |
| galaxyType | grand-design spiral galaxy ⓘ |
| hasCompanionGalaxy |
M51b
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
NGC 5195 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasSupernova |
SN 1994I
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
SN 2005cs NERFINISHED ⓘ SN 2011dh NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| isPopularTargetFor |
amateur astronomers
ⓘ
astrophotography ⓘ |
| locatedInConstellation | Canes Venatici NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| messierNumber | 51 ⓘ |
| morphologicalType | SA(s)bc pec ⓘ |
| ngcNumber | 5194 ⓘ |
| notableFor |
active star formation in spiral arms
ⓘ
interaction with companion galaxy NGC 5195 ⓘ prominent spiral arms ⓘ well-defined dust lanes ⓘ |
| observedByTelescope |
Chandra X-ray Observatory
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Hubble Space Telescope NERFINISHED ⓘ Spitzer Space Telescope NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| observedIn |
X-ray wavelengths
ⓘ
optical wavelengths ⓘ radio wavelengths ⓘ |
| orientation | face-on ⓘ |
| partOf | local volume of the universe ⓘ |
| radialVelocity | 463 km/s ⓘ |
| redshift | 0.001544 ⓘ |
| rightAscension | 13h 29m 52.7s ⓘ |
| visibleFromHemisphere | Northern Hemisphere NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Whirlpool Galaxy