Hubble Photographs Grand Design Spiral Galaxy M81

  • Released Thursday, October 17th, 2013
  • Updated Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 at 12:23AM
  • ID: 30110

This beautiful galaxy is tilted at an oblique angle on to our line of sight, giving a "birds-eye view" of the spiral structure. The galaxy is similar to our Milky Way, but our favorable view provides a better picture of the typical architecture of spiral galaxies. Though the galaxy is 11.6 million light-years away, NASA Hubble Space Telescope's view is so sharp that it can resolve individual stars, along with open star clusters, globular star clusters, and even glowing regions of fluorescent gas.

Spiral Galaxy M81

Spiral Galaxy M81

For More Information

See http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/19/

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Missions

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