More M101

M101 image from an anonymous source

Image of the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 by Greg Bothun, taken in the blue light

with reimaging optics on a 52-inch telescope. The exposure time was 30

seconds. From the

University of Oregon collection

• More images from Greg Bothun’s collection

  

  This is the nearby Sc spiral (in fact, perhaps the textbook example of

  a luminous so-called luminosity class I spiral) NGC 5457 or Messier 101.

  It has several extremely luminous star-forming (H II) regions in the

  outer spiral arms, some sporting their own NGC numbers. It dominates

  a small group of galaxies, with some of its neighbors such as NGC 5474

  showing wear and tear attributed to the tidal effects of M101. M101

  itself is further noteworthy for its extensive and lopsided

  distribution of neutral hydrogen gas, and for showing evidence

  of gas falling into its disk at high speeds.

  This image is from a blue-light exposure

  taken with a focal reducer on the 1.1-meter Hall telescope of Lowell

  Observatory.

  From Bill Keel‘s

  Messier Picture Gallery

  at the University of Alabama.

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• Amateur images of M101;

  more amateur images (Wallis/Provin)

• UV image of M101

  (UIT, Astro-2 Space Shuttle mission, STS-67)

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  Hartmut Frommert

  ([email protected])

  Christine Kronberg

  ([email protected])

  

  

  

  

  Last Modification: 28 Jun 1998, 18:30 MET