Astronomy Picture of the Day · May 2, 2009

The Whale Galaxy

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 2, 2009 is “The Whale Galaxy,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit & Copyright: Adam Block , Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter , U. Arizona Guest Astronomers: Tom Bash and Craig Gates). The original explanation runs about 167 words.

From the explanation

“NGC 4631 is a big beautiful spiral galaxy. Seen edge-on , it lies only 25 million light-years away in the well-trained northern constellation Canes Venatici .”

— APOD editors, May 2, 2009

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: May 2, 2009
Type: Image
Credit: Credit & Copyright: Adam Block , Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter , U. Arizona Guest Astronomers: Tom Bash and Craig Gates
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 167 words

All of May 2009 → · 2009 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 2 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, May 2, 2009 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2009-may-2-the-whale-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.