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The Pinwheel Galaxy M101 in Ursa Major

was actually discovered by Mechain rather than Messier in 1781. Observations with the HST place it at 27 million light years from Earth. Notice the asymmetrical spiral structure and the many purple 'knots' of hydrogen-alpha areas. These would be as the emission nebulae of our own galaxy such as The Eagle and Lagoon. Imaged at only 640mm focal length, it looks like such a lovely little galaxy. In truth, it is approximately 170,000 light years in diameter. See a nice, optically superior wide field view here.                       
Borg 101ED SXV-H9C Baader UV-IR Filter G-11 STV Borg 45ED Astroart 4 Photoshop CS2 Neat Image