This image may not be used to state or imply NOAO endorsement of any company or product Optical photograph of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457), a

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This image may not be used to state or imply NOAO endorsement of any company or product Optical photograph of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457), a large, bright spiral galaxy some 20 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. M101 has a mass of three thousand million Suns and a diameter of approximately 200,000 light years, around twice that of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Its extremely narrow, far- flung spiral arms are dominated by huge clouds of glowing hydrogen, some of which are 3000 light years across.

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Size: 4159px × 3402px
Photo credit: © NOAO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 5457, astronomy, cosmology, galactic, galaxy, galaxygalaxy, m101, ngc, pinwheel, pinwhell, science, spiral