Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

21st Century M101

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 22, 2016 is “21st Century M101,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: NASA , ESA , CXC , JPL, Caltech STScI. The original explanation runs about 194 words.

21st Century M101
Credit: Image Credit: NASA , ESA , CXC , JPL, Caltech STScI Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“One of the last entries in Charles Messier’s famous catalog, big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy.”

— APOD editors, January 22, 2016

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
January 22, 2016
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: NASA , ESA , CXC , JPL, Caltech STScI
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 194 words

All of January 2016 → · 2016 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Milky WayGalaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 22 in other years

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Source

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.