NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy)

Pinwheel galaxy rotating in outer space, 3D animation with flying stars. Contains public domain image by NASA

A mere 15 million light-years away, the Southern Pinwheel galaxy is ablaze with star formation. A mosaic of Hubble Space Telescope images reveals dark spiral dust lanes lined with clusters of young stars lighting up pink clouds of hydrogen gas. Hundreds of thousands of bright blue stars shine where the gas has been cleared out by stellar winds. Older stars appear yellow or orange, because the young blue stars have already burned out. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).