Featured Deep Sky Objects M101

 

	Deep Sky Object Chart | Stars in Ursa Major | M40 | M81/M82 | M97 | M101 | M109 | NGC2841 M101 is the poster child for spiral galaxies. It is a perfectly face-on, small nucleus system whose many arms arc out on all sides like a celestial pinwheel. The analogy is so apt that some observers call M101 the "Pinwheel", although that name is usually used to refer to our Local Group neighbor, the larger and brighter M33. Although it cannot compete in size or brightness with M33 or the Great Andromeda Galaxy M31, M101 is estimated to be one of our closer galactic neighbors beyond our local group - perhaps 15 million light years. Accordingly, M101 is quite large in our sky; photographs reveal details across an area almost as large as the moon.
This galaxy is also quite bright, at ninth magnitude, but don't expect to see the wonderful details presented in photographs when gazing directly at M101; you may see misty clumps that hint at the spiral pattern, but the surface brightness is low enough that the dominant impression is of a dimly glowing disk with a small bright core. Large telescopes under really dark conditions, however, reveal a picture that in many ways is superior to the starkly obvious photo-pinwheel; in a telescope, the effect is ghostly, misty, subtle, and luminous. Look for M101 just north of the last two stars in the handle of the dipper. Remember, the crucial requirement for M101 hunting is a dark sky, even if you have a fairly large telescope; in good conditions, you may not even need a telescope at all - this amazing galaxy is an obvious glowing spot in binoculars! Home M97 M109