Astronomy Picture of the Day · February 19, 2006

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 19, 2006 is “M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars,” an image. It is credited to Credit: N. Scoville ( Caltech ), T. Rector (U. Alaska, NOAO ) et al. , Hubble Heritage Team , NASA. The original explanation runs about 146 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, February 19, 2006

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: February 19, 2006
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: N. Scoville ( Caltech ), T. Rector (U. Alaska, 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 146 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: February 19 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, February 19, 2006 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2006-february-19-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.