Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457), composite optical image. This is one of the largest spiral galaxies known, at over 170,000 light years across. The n

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Pinwheel Galaxy (M101, NGC 5457), composite optical image. This is one of the largest spiral galaxies known, at over 170,000 light years across. The nucleus contains mainly stars that are older and yellower than the arms. The arms appear bluer as they contain younger stars, and numerous bright starbirth regions. The Pinwheel Galaxy lies around 27 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The image combines data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Subaru Telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).

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Size: 4524px × 3872px
Photo credit: © Hubble Legacy Archive/NAOJ/ROBERT GENDLER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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