Giant Pinwheel in deep space (LRGB)

M101, aka Pinwheel galaxy, is the giant spiral disk of stars, dust, and gas is 170,000 light-years across — nearly twice the diameter of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate that M101 contains at least one trillion stars. The galaxy’s spiral arms are sprinkled with large regions of star-forming nebulas. These nebulas are areas of intense star formation within giant molecular hydrogen clouds. Brilliant, young clusters of hot, blue, newborn stars trace out the spiral arms.