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The Pinwheel Galaxy M101
Amateur Astronomy Picture of the Day
The Pinwheel Galaxy M101
By Alessandro Cipolat Bares
of Clèmensod, Valle d'Aosta, Italy
The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy about 27 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and he subsequently communicated his discovery to Charles Messier who verified its position and added it to the Messier Catalogue as one of the final entries.
It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, and he subsequently communicated his discovery to Charles Messier who verified its position and added it to the Messier Catalogue as one of the final entries.
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These image where taken with GRAS free trial account.
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