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The Whirlpool galaxy, is also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194. It is a large galaxy with well-defined spiral arms, with a smaller companion galaxy. They have been through a collision, and are still interacting.

The Whirlpool was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Different methods put its distance as between 15 to 35 million light-years. Recently it was estimated to be 23 ± 4 million light-years from the Milky Way. Messier 51 is one of the best known galaxies in the sky.