galaxy · Canes Venatici

M51 — Whirlpool Galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a grand-design spiral galaxy located about 23 million light-years away. It's actually a pair of galaxies in interaction, with the smaller companion NGC 5195 visible on the left, gravitationally pulling on the larger spiral. The well-defined spiral arms and face-on orientation make this one of the most photographed deep-sky objects in the night sky.