Astrophotography Gallery

Galaxies & Nebulae

Galaxies & Nebula
Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy is named for its sweeping spiral arms. In 1773, Charles Messier observed the galaxy and added it to his catalog of deep-sky objects as M 51. Located in the constellation Canes Venatici, it is 23 million light years from Earth. The Whirlpool Galaxy is 100 billion stars all rotating together. It’s a spiral galaxy with a central bulge of stars and arms of stars, dust and gases. The smaller galaxy to the right of the Whirlpool Galaxy is NGC 5194. It is sliding past the Whirlpool Galaxy and interacting with its spiral arms. Within those arms, new stars are constantly being formed. Those new stars give the Whirlpool Galaxy its striking blue color.
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Zodiac Collection

PISCES - Pinwheel Galaxy
Pisces - Feb 19 - Mar 20. The spiral Pinwheel Galaxy is between 20 and 27 million light years from us in the constellation Pisces. That means that the light we see was emitted over 20 million years ago and took that long (at the speed of light!) to travel to Earth. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a cluster of around a trillion stars held together by gravity. It’s a spiral galaxy with a central bulge of stars and arms of stars, dust and gases. The entire galaxy is rotating together. Hotter stars appear white or blue, while cooler stars appear red or brown.
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