Whirlpool Galaxy

Shortly after removing the protective cover from its cryostat, the PACS instrument snapped this image of the Whirlpook Galaxy.  All three channels of the instrument, 70, 100 and 160 microns, are shown as red, green and blue respectively.  The spiral arms are clearly visible, but what is shown here is not the stars but the dust which is heated up by the stars.  The bright blue blobs are warmer regions which are being heated up by stars forming within.

The bright blue region seen above the main part of the Galaxy in this image is a smaller galaxy with which M51 is in the process of merging.  Herschel observations of similar spiral galaxies will shed light on the way these galaxies have formed and the way they are forming stars at the moment.

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as "Messier 51" (or just M51 for short), was first catalogued in 1773 by Charles Messier.  However it was not identified as a spiral galaxy until 1845 by Earl of Rosse using a the Leviathan telescope at Birr Castle in Ireland.  At the time, this 1.82m (72") diameter telescope was the largest in the world, so it is appropriate that it is now being imaged by Herschel, the largest ever infrared telescope.

The images of the Whirlpool Galaxy in the three separate wavelength measured by PACS can be seen below.

.