Whirlpool Galaxy

Galaxy

A classic spiral galaxy famous for its clearly defined arms, seen interacting with a smaller companion galaxy.

Facts

TypeGalaxy
Galaxy typeSpiral
Distance from Earth23,500,000 ly
Diameter727,600,000,000,000,000 km
Mass3.20 × 10^41 kg
Apparent magnitude8.4
Redshift0.001534
HemisphereNorthern
Discovered1773

Whirlpool Galaxy in context

At 727,600,000,000,000,000 km across, Whirlpool Galaxy is 57,102,495,683,566 times the diameter of Earth.

Its mass is 160,884,866,767 times the mass of the Sun.

The light reaching us from Whirlpool Galaxy tonight left it around 23,548,500 years ago.

Its light arrives redshifted by z = 0.001534, stretched on the way here by the universe's expansion.

It has been on record since 1773.

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