M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy)

  • Released Monday, June 18, 2018
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This animation shows the Messier 101 (Pinwheel) Galaxy, with simulated rotation, in visible, then infrared, then X-ray, and finally all three combined.

M101 is a comparable in size to the Milky Way. The disk is 100 billion solar masses, and the central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses. M101 is rich is pinkish star forming regions, many of which are very large and bright. Unlike most spiral galaxies, M101's spiral shape is notably asymmetrical. This is due to the tidal forces from interactions with its companion galaxies. These gravitational interactions compress interstellar hydrogen gas, which then triggers strong star formation activity in M101's spiral arms.

This animation is the same as above, played twice as fast.

Spitzer Infrared image of M101

Spitzer Infrared image of M101

Hubble Optical image of M101

Hubble Optical image of M101

Chandra X-ray image of M101

Chandra X-ray image of M101

Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra images combined

Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra images combined

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:

Video: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), and STScI

This page was originally published on Monday, June 18, 2018.
This page was last updated on Monday, March 10, 2025 at 12:25 AM EDT.

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