Whirlpool Galaxy By Dennis Ballway

The whirlpool galaxy is 31 million light years away from us, allowing astronomers to observe it with great detail and study. It was first discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1773, and later noted for its spiral shape by Irish astronomer William Parsons in 1845.

The galaxy is estimated to be 90,000 light years long, 10,000 light years less than the milky way. It is located in the Canes Venatici (hunting dogs) constellation.

The Cross At the center of the Whirlpool galaxy is its noted cross. The cross has been thought to have been caused by a jet of high speed plasma which confines radiation from the accretion disk to a pair of oppositely directed cones of light that ionize gas caught in their beams. In simple terms, it is the absorption of dust that blocks our view of the Whirlpool’s black hole.

The central stars are cool, old stars, while the outside stars are mostly new and very heated, still forming, and the ones that have already appear blue.

Neighbor Galaxy An obvious feature of the spiral galaxy is the closeness it is to the galaxy NGC 5195, which appears to tug at the whirlpool, leading astronomers to hypothesis that this is the reason for the Whirlpool’s two great arms.

However, this is not the case However, this is not the case. NGC 5195 is actually actively moving behind the galaxy, but they play a role on each other.

NGC 5195 is getting shredded apart by the superior gravitation force of the Whirlpool, but also acts as an aid to develop stars in the Whirlpool because of its gravitational characteristics compressing the hydrogen gases from its dark clouds, eventually causing red star forming regions, and evolving finally into great blue star clusters. This is evident in its appearance.

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/tours/tour-m51/ http://www.universetoday.com/30518/whirlpool-galaxy/ http://www.astrocruise.com/galaxies/m51.htm http://www.spaceimages.com/hum51whgacrp.html