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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. 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