Astronomy Picture of the Day · April 10, 2001

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 10, 2001 is “M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars,” an image. It is credited to Credit: N. Scoville ( Caltech ), T. Rector ( ( NOAO ) et al. , Hubble Heritage Team , NASA. The original explanation runs about 144 words.

From the explanation

“The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. At only 30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51 , also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky.”

— APOD editors, April 10, 2001

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: April 10, 2001
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: N. Scoville ( Caltech ), T. Rector ( ( NOAO ) et al. , Hubble Heritage Team , NASA
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 144 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: April 10 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, April 10, 2001 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2001-april-10-m51-the-whirlpool-galaxy-in-dust-and-stars

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.