M101 · galaxy
Pinwheel Galaxy
The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on, counterclockwise intermediate spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.
RA14h 03m 12sDec+54° 20' 56"
Identity & coordinates
Identification
- Primary designation
- M101
- All designations
- M101 · NGC 5457 · Pinwheel Galaxy
- Object type
- Galaxy
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Best viewing
- Spring
Coordinates & physical
- Right ascension (J2000)
- 14h 03m 12s
- Declination (J2000)
- +54° 20' 56"
- Apparent magnitude (V)
- —
- Distance
- —
- Redshift (z)
- 0.000804
Visibility tonight
In your gallery
-
May 5, 2025 · Backyard Observatory, Michigan
The Pinwheel
A face-on spiral the size of nine Andromedas.
- Integration
- 2h 48m
- Subs
- 168 × 60s
- Telescope
- Celestron Origin
- Camera
- Sony IMX178 (built-in)
- Bortle
- 5
- Moon
- Waxing Crescent, 28%
The science
The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on, counterclockwise intermediate spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA-4.0
References
- SIMBAD Not resolved
- NED Fetched May 8, 2026 View in NED ↗
- Wikipedia Fetched May 8, 2026 Read full article ↗
1 merge conflict resolved
- coordinates: SIMBAD missing → NED used