2026年1月14日
M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sleeman
Explanation: The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. At only 30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky. The featured deep image is a digital combination of images taken in different colors over 58 hours with a telescope from Lijiang, China. Anyone with a good pair of binoculars, however, can see this Whirlpool toward the constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici). M51 is a spiral galaxy of type Sc and is the dominant member of a whole group of galaxies. Astronomers speculate that M51‘s spiral structure is primarily due to its gravitational interaction with the smaller galaxy just above it.
Tomorrow’s picture: open space
M51: 漩涡星系
影像提供与版权: Michael Sleeman
说明: 漩涡星系是一个典型的螺旋星系。M51 (又称NGC 5194) 距离地球仅3000万光年，直径达6万光年，是天空中最明亮、最如画的星系之一。这幅特写深空影像是由位于中国 丽江的望远镜在58小时内拍摄的不同色彩影像数位合成的。不过，任何拥有优质双筒望远镜的人都可以在猎犬座（Canes Venatici）方向看到这个漩涡。M51是一个Sc型螺旋星系，也是一整个星系群中最主要的成员。天文学家推测，M51的螺旋结构主要是由于它与上方较小星系之间的重力交互作用所造成的。
明日的图片: open space
