Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Observation • July 21st, 2008 • ssc2008-14b
ssc2008-14b
The tangled arms of the Pinwheel galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 101, are decked out in red in this new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
The Pinwheel galaxy is located 27 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is what's called a flocculent spiral, which means that its spiral arms are not well defined.
In this infrared composite, the red color shows the dust, while the blue glow around the galaxy is from starlight. Blue indicates light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns, green corresponds to 4.5 microns, and red to 5.8 and 8.0 microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8- and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features.
About the Object
- Name
- Pinwheel galaxy • M101 • Messier 101 • NGC 5457
- Type
- Galaxy > Type > Spiral
- Galaxy > Component > Disk
- Distance
- 21,440,000 Light Years
Color Mapping
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Infrared | 3.6 µm | Spitzer IRAC |
| Infrared | 4.5 µm | Spitzer IRAC |
| Infrared | 8.0 µm | Spitzer IRAC |
Astrometrics
- Position (J2000)
- RA =14h 3m 12.3s
- Dec = 54° 20' 54.9"
- Field of View
- 28.1 x 28.1 arcminutes
- Orientation
- North is 35.0° left of vertical
