Messier M101
Pinwheel Galaxy
Galaxy
Ursa Major
Moderate
Large face-on spiral galaxy; low surface brightness rewards dark skies.
Angular size
28.8′ × 26.9′
Magnitude
7.9
Best months
Mar-Jun
Constellation
Ursa Major
Catalog IDs
M101;NGC 5457
Common aliases
Pinwheel
Recommended telescopes
Explore Scientific
1140mm f/7.5 · 152mm aperture
Frames 41% of APS-C FOV