Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Unwinding M51

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for August 21, 2020 is “Unwinding M51,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Data – Hubble Heritage Project , Unwinding – Paul Howell). The original explanation runs about 184 words.

Unwinding M51
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Data – Hubble Heritage Project , Unwinding – Paul Howell Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The arms of a grand design spiral galaxy 60,000 light-years across are unwound in this digital transformation of the magnificent 2005 Hubble Space Telescope portrait of M51 .”

— APOD editors, August 21, 2020

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
August 21, 2020
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Data – Hubble Heritage Project , Unwinding – Paul Howell
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 184 words

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Topics in this entry

GalaxiesHubble Space Telescope

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: August 21 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.