NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate the International Year of Astronomy with a National Unveiling of Spectacular Images

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ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

Messier 101 has a pancake-like shape that we view face-on. This perspective shows off the spiral structure that gives it the nickname the Pinwheel Galaxy. In this Hubble image, taken in visible light, the bright blue clumps are regions where new stars have formed. The yellowish core consists mainly of old stars. The dark brown dust lanes are colder and denser regions where interstellar clouds may collapse to form new stars. All of these features are shaped into a beautiful spiral pattern by a combination of gravity and rotation. Astronomers use visible light to study where and how stars form in spiral galaxies.

Object Names: M101, NGC 4547, The Pinwheel Galaxy

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), and STScI

NEWS RELEASE IMAGES

The above image is part of a montage:

Montage Image: Spiral Galaxy M101 - NASA's Great Observatories Image Type: Astronomical/Annotated PRC2009-07b

Spitzer Image of M101 Image Type: Astronomical

Chandra Image of M101 Image Type: Astronomical

All images from this news release:

To access available information and downloadable versions of images in this news release, click on any of the images below:

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