SpazeSpiral galaxy, M51
Whirlpool Galaxy
A grand spiral seen face-on, tugging on a smaller companion galaxy at the end of one arm.
- Distance
- 23 million light years
- Width
- 76,000 light years
Made of
- Dark matter 90%
- Stars 8%
- Gas and dust 2%
Hundreds of billions of stars in a halo of dark matter
Modelled from rotation curves and star counts