06/15/2026
This tiny smudge in the sky
is an entire galaxy. 🌌
This is M101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy: a face-on spiral galaxy in Ursa Major (the Big Dipper), sitting roughly 22–25 million light-years away from Earth.
At first, it looked like I was pointing my Seestar at empty sky. But after a few hours of capturing, I was able to pull out more detail in the galaxy, and I used editing tools to bring out more of the colour, structure, and spiral arms.
What I love about M101 is that we’re seeing it almost face-on, which is why its spiral shape is so beautiful once the detail starts to come through. It’s full of stars, dust, gas, and star-forming regions: all sitting far beyond our own Milky Way.
Music is written, composed, performed by my husband Peter Karle 💙
