image

M51 whirlpool galaxy. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of the M51 or NGC 5194 whirlpool galaxy. This spiral galaxy is located around 15 million light years away from Earth, in the constellation Canes Venatici. Its spiral arms contain hot, young stars (blue) and many starbirth regions (red). The nucleus (centre) of the galaxy contains older stars (yellow). (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/NASA/ESA/STSCI/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM/ SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)