Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. Anyone with a good pair of binoculars , however, can see this Whirlpool toward the constellation of Canes Venatici . M51 is a spiral galaxy of type Sc and is the dominant member of a whole group of galaxies . Astronomers speculate that M51 's spiral structure is primarily due to its gravitational interaction with a smaller galaxy just off the top of this image.
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