M 101 – The Pinwheel Galaxy

Description:

The Pinwheel Galaxy is much larger than our Milky Way galaxy and its distance is estimated at 22 million light years. The fact that it is seen face-on gives it a low surface brightness. It is therefore not easy to observe visually. It is located in the constellation Ursa Major, therefore it is visible a good part of the year.

M 101 hosts a large number of open clusters, globular clusters and large regions of molecular hydrogen. Under the effect of their own gravity, these clouds contract and give birth to stars. These regions can be photographed and highlighted with an H-Alpha filter. We see them as pink spots in the spiral arms in this photo.