This week, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to explore the Whirlpool Galaxy, cataloged as M51. It lies in Canes Venatici near the Big Dipper asterism along with its companion galaxy, NGC 5195.
How to find the Whirlpool Galaxy — video transcript
Hi, I’m Dave Eicher, editor emeritus of Astronomy magazine.
Welcome to This Week in Astronomy brought to you by Celestron, the world’s leading manufacturer of telescopes. You know, springtime is galaxy time in the evening sky, with constellations like Virgo and Coma Berenices riding high nicely visible, then one of the best galaxies that you can can see in binoculars or a small telescope in the northern sky lies in Canes Venatici. It’s the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51.
Not only is it bright and visible nicely in small sky, but the whirlpool is aligned face-on so that we can see its spiral structure pretty nicely in larger scopes — astrophotos of course giving it a really nice appearance in our sky. Moreover, M51 is an interacting galaxy. It has a little interloper that’s moving past it, NGC 5195 passing the larger galaxy. So it’s a great combination of galaxies, springtime classics, all in one place.
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The Whirlpool Galaxy can be found relatively close to the Big Dipper asterism. It glows at magnitude 8.4, bright enough in binoculars under a really dark sky and small scopes really bring out the detail in that this object, of course.
The galaxy pair lies about 24 million light years away. It’s one of the best examples of an interacting galaxy in our sky. Check it out when you have the chance this spring. You will like it. I’ll see you next time.
David Eicher is one of the most widely recognized astronomy enthusiasts in the world. He has been with Astronomy magazine for 36 years, was the magazine’s chief editor from 2002 to 2025, and is currently the magazine’s Editor Emeritus. He has written 15 books on astronomy and 9 books on U.S. history.
