M101 is well placed
2015 Apr 22
Dominic Ford – originally published on In-The-Sky.org
The pinwheel galaxy (M101, NGC 5457) will be well placed for observation. It will reach its highest point in the sky at around midnight local time.
At a declination of +54°21', it is easiest to see from the northern hemisphere and cannot be seen from latitudes much south of 15°S.
From London (click to change), it will be visible all night because it is circumpolar. It will be highest in the sky at 01:00, 87° above your northern horizon. At dusk, it will become visible at around 21:42 (GMT), 60° above your north-eastern horizon. It will be lost to dawn twilight at around 04:17, 60° above your north-western horizon.
At magnitude 8.3, M101 is quite faint, and certainly not visible to the naked eye, but can be viewed through a pair of binoculars or small telescope.
The precise position of M101 is as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| M101 | 14h03m10s | +54°21' | Ursa Major | 8.3 | 29'00" |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The details of this observing event were provided courtesy of In-The-Sky.org
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