M51: The Center Of The Whirlpool

Explanation: In the center of M51 , a spiral galaxy 23 million light-years away, astronomers have identified a dense region of young stars. Viewed face-on in the constellation Canes Venatici , the swirling arcs of this galaxy's spiral arms have inspired its popular name, The Whirlpool Galaxy . This 1996 Hubble Space Telescope image of its nucleus reveals the light from millions of stars, perhaps one tenth the age of the Sun, packed into the bright central region. A mere 80 light-years across, this area is so crowded with stars that the view from a hypothetical planet orbiting one of these distant suns would be of a continuously bright sky! The dark “Y” shape visible within this region is an indication that lanes of dust are present, partially blocking the intense starlight.