M51 (Whirlpool)

A spiral galaxy very similar to our own Milky Way, seen face-on. There are a couple of hundred billion stars here. The dark splotches are dust clouds, and the tiny pink spots are star forming regions, where new stars (and probably solar systems) are born.The bright object to the right is another galaxy, a small barred spiral captured by M51. Eventually, they will merge, making a single large galaxy (probably very distorted from its present state). Both galaxies are about 35 million light-years away.Go to the NOAO image gallery entry for M51 for more information on these galaxies.

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.