Astronomy Picture of the Day · January 25, 1997

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 25, 1997 is “M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy,” an image. It is credited to M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy Credit: W. Keel (U. Alabama), 1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory. The original explanation runs about 89 words.

From the explanation

“Explanation : The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy . At only 15 million light years distant, M 51, also cataloged as NGC 5194 , is one of the brighter and more picturesque galaxies on the sky.”

— APOD editors, January 25, 1997

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: January 25, 1997
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy Credit: W. Keel (U. Alabama), 1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 89 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 25 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, January 25, 1997 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-1997-january-25-m51-the-whirlpool-galaxy

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.