Messier 101
Where is Messier 101?
Look northwest, about 38° up at 20:20 in Ursa Major.
- Rises
- Always up
- Highest
- 14:07
- Sets
- Never
- Best after dark
- 20:20 · 38°
Can I see Messier 101 tonight?
From London tonight, Messier 101 is above the horizon all night. It’s highest soon after dark, around 20:20, in the northwest at 38°.
At magnitude 7.9, with its light spread out, it needs a telescope and a dark sky.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does Messier 101 look like?
Eyes
Not visible.
Binoculars
Under dark skies, a faint, round glow.
Telescope
A faint, large glow with a brighter center. Dark skies and 200 mm or more show patchy spiral arms. From suburbs, often only the core is visible.
About Messier 101
The Pinwheel Galaxy, M101, is a large spiral galaxy seen face-on, about 21 million light-years away. It is much larger than the Milky Way.
Its light is spread over an area about the size of the full Moon, so its surface is faint. That makes it a classic dark-sky target: impressive in photographs, but easily washed out by light pollution.
M101 has hosted two of the brightest supernovae of recent decades: SN 2011fe and SN 2023ixf, both visible in backyard telescopes.
Pierre Méchain discovered M101 in 1781. Its arms are lopsided, probably pulled out of shape by encounters with smaller neighboring galaxies.
Several of its brightest star-forming regions have their own NGC numbers and can be seen as small knots in larger amateur telescopes.
M101 is best placed on spring and early-summer evenings, when the Big Dipper is high. Choose a moonless night: even a partial Moon can hide most of its glow.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Why is M101 so hard to see if it is so large?
Sources: OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences