Pinwheel Galaxy close-ups

This composite shows six selected areas from the new Hubble image of Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. The close-ups show:

Background galaxies far behind the Pinwheel Galaxy. The galaxies are clearly "reddened" by the dust in the Pinwheel.

Dust lanes in the Pinwheel galaxy. The dust particles scatter blue light the most and therefore colour the light from background stars red. The same effect is seen in sunsets on the Earth.

A selection of some of the millions of individual stars visible in Messier 101 with Hubble's sharp vision. In total it is estimated that the Pinwheel galaxy contains about one trillion stars.

An example of some of the 3000 bright clusters of sizzling newborn blue stars in the Pinwheel galaxy.

Another "grand design" spiral lies behind the Pinwheel Galaxy itself and is visible through its disk. Hubble's incredible resolution makes it possible to make out star forming regions in this distant galaxy.

Two distant galaxies behind Messier 101 and a collection of individual foreground stars from one of its spiral arms.