Pinwheel Galaxy

space · spiral galaxy · Ursa Major · distant

Spiral shape. The Pinwheel Galaxy has long, elegant arms that spiral outward from its center, kind of like a giant cosmic pinwheel spinning in space.

Discovered in 1781. A French astronomer named Pierre Méchain first spotted it, and then Charles Messier confirmed what he'd found and added it to his famous catalog of galaxies and star clusters.

Facing toward us. We see the Pinwheel Galaxy head-on from Earth, which gives us a perfect view of its beautiful spiral arms stretching out like spokes on a wheel.

In Ursa Major. You can find the Pinwheel Galaxy in the direction of Ursa Major, the constellation that looks like a big bear in the northern sky.

Very far away. At 21 million light-years from Earth, the light from this galaxy takes 21 million years to reach us, so we're seeing it as it was incredibly long ago.