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The Hubble telescope has snapped a view of several generations of stars in the central region of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), located 23 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs).

The spiral galaxy's massive center, the bright ball of light in the center of the photograph, is about 80 light-years across and has a brightness of about 100 million suns. Astronomers estimate that it is about 400 million years old and has a mass 40 million times larger than our Sun. The concentration of stars is about 5,000 times higher than in our solar neighborhood, the Milky Way Galaxy.

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      Media Contacts
      Calla Cofield
      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
      626-808-2469
      calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
      Amanda Adams
      Office of the Chief Science Data Officer
      256-683-6661
      amanda.m.adams@nasa.gov
      Share








      Details
      Last Updated Jul 02, 2025 Related Terms
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      Last Updated Jun 27, 2025 Related Terms
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      Details
      Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
      Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Irregular Galaxies The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble
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