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Messier catalogue · Galaxy

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy

Pinwheel: large, with low surface brightness.

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Photograph of M101 — Pinwheel Galaxy
Photograph from volume II · The field may be partial and the colours may result from processing. Credits and source.

Essential information

Category
Galaxy
Constellation
Ursa Major (UMa)
Alternative designation
NGC 5457
Right ascension / declination
14h03 / +54°21′
Visual magnitude
7,7
Indicative distance
≈ 25 M ly

RA / Dec.: J2000, rounded to the nearest minute. ly = light-year; M ly = million light-years; ≈ = approximate value; — = not available.

At the eyepiece

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Pinwheel: large, with low surface brightness.

Locating guide from the book5,6° NNE of η UMa

N, S, E and W indicate cardinal directions; combinations give a more precise direction. Greek letters identify the constellation’s guide stars. Check the route on a suitable chart.

Photographs help you recognise structures, but do not predict the view through an eyepiece. Detection depends on the sky, the object’s altitude and your instrument.

Sources and credits

Fact sheet adapted from Comprendre comment explorer le ciel, volume II by Steve Cimolino, version dated 17 October 2026. Values and advice are taken from the book; they are not real-time ephemerides.

Credit: Image: European Space Agency & NASA Acknowledgements: Project Investigators for the original Hubble data: K.D. Kuntz (GSFC), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (JPL), J. Mould (NOAO), and Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) Image processing: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble) CFHT image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum NOAO image: George Jacoby, Bruce Bohannan, Mark Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF. CC BY 4.0.

Photograph source and original description ↗ · CC BY 4.0

Image resized and converted to WebP for this site; colours and proportions retained. Each image’s own licence continues to apply.

Book data: NASA HEASARC ; coordinates adapted fromOpenNGC, Mattia Verga under CC BY-SA 4.0. The relevant adapted data retain this licence. All image attributions and terms →

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