M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy - Deep Sky Videos

Messier 51, The Whirlpool Galaxy, and how its spiral arms were formed. Featuring Professor Mike Merrifield.
EXTRA FOOTAGE: • Spiral Galaxies (extra...
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Made possible by:
The University of Nottingham
and The University of Sheffield.
Video by Brady Haran
Animation by Pete McPartlan

[@MrGiXxEr]

1:16 "It tends to be rather messier" ;)

[@dormirenonpotest]

+MrGixxer666 was just about to say that!

[@nlo114]

I have watched hundreds of astronomy videos; this is the first one that has explained the spiral arm formation in a simple-to-understand manner, without assuming that you already know. Have an applaud!

[@aureliabackup7313]

I always wondered why spiral galaxies don't get "wound up" with the stars closer to the middle moving at the same speed as the outer ones. This explains it so clearly.

[@bobaloo2012]

That's the best and clearest explanation of spiral arms I've ever seen. Thanks, I learned something, and I've studied astronomy for years.

[@sleepful1917]

right?! he summed it up so nicely

[@BurakBagdatli]

This is a beautiful explanation to why the sky is beautiful.

[@EugeneKhutoryansky]

Nice explanation.

[@luispower1979]

Talking about Messier 51: and Mike said... "It's Messier"... Just a play on words... don't listen to me... Great vid as always!!!!

[@redkb]

Loved the video. This is my favorite of your channels!

[@ferko28]

And you're my favorite puzzle related channel!

[@Harlequin314159]

1:15 "But it tends to be rather Messy-er" ... Messier? Pun!

[@Diggnuts]

+Harlequin314159 That hit me like a brick...

[@TheJanitorIsIn]

Came here for this.

[@naota3k]

+Harlequin314159 Lovely. :')

[@sean3533]

+Harlequin314159 ughhh i wanted to post this

[@adityakhanna113]

+Sean Haggard Having seen the comment, I wanted to reply "I wanted to post this"... now even that has been taken away!

[@Shortyclips601]

Explanations are the main cause of people to study astronomy.. Applause. Love from India....👏👏👏👏😍

[@Etaukan]

I've heard people talk about the spiral structure 'not really moving like you think' before, but it hadn't really gotten through to me what they meant by that until I saw that very simple illustration, and then it's like '....OH. Well of course!'. Thank you, professor, you taught me something I thought I already knew.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Thanks, I did not understand the video on spiral structures at all, but now I do.

[@CorwynGC]

Brilliant! NOW I understand it. Thank you kindly.

[@lasagnahog7695]

You guys are determined to create a legion of Messier object experts.

[@Lucas72928]

How do galaxies get more than two arms? Are the bars formed in a similar way? Why do the bars look like the bulge and not like a spiral arm? Did NGC 4725 get it's spiral structure the same way?

[@ConnorHay]

I’ve read a lot of descriptions and seen a lot of videos about how spiral structures come about, and I kinda sorta understood. But this is the first explanation/visual combo where I feel like I ACTUALLY understand on some level why galaxies have spirals.

[@10395user]

I was always having struggle with the idea of gravitational effect caused by dark matter and the formation of spiral arms. Thanks for the great video!

[@DrogoBaggins987]

That was the clearest explanation for spiral arms I have ever heard.

[@Insertnamesz]

Awesome animation at the end! Really sends home the concept.

[@JoelLeBlanc]

MIND BLOWN - I never understood spiral structure vs stellar orbits before. Thanks Professor!

[@RT710.]

Life is awesome because people like prof. Merrifield & Brady do what they do. Thank you Brady for all your work & time, and thank you to the all the featured professors at the university of Nottingham: you all make the world a better place! 🌠✨💫

[@Regolith86]

Best explanation of how spiral galaxies work that I've ever seen.

[@YawnGod]

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR M51 FOR YEARS! FINALLY!

[@iseslc]

M51 has been the wallpaper on my computer for years now. It's beautiful :)

[@KajoFox]

I had the pleasure of seeing this galaxy in my 10" dobsonian scope the other day. It was too close to the horizon for a proper look but it's impressive none the less.

[@IstasPumaNevada]

That's the first time I've seen that aligning precession explanation for spiral arms, and the first time the way they can function has actually made sense to me! Thanks!

[@Edhilues]

M51 is my favorite galaxy since I was in elementary and always will be💜

[@lethargogpeterson4083]

Very nice explanations, and very nice visualizations, both the simple printouts of the professor and the animations done (I assume) by Brady. Thank you.

[@BillySugger1965]

Amazingly clear description of something I've wondered about for many years. Thank you so much!

[@SteveFrenchWoodNStuff]

That was very insightful. I actually get how a spiral galaxy works now. Thanks!

[@Rigel34085]

Saw this for the first time with my telescope last week. Was awesome. This video made it better. Thanks Brady love all your channels.

[@jonasmuller1880]

Awesome video! I think you took a quite complex topic and explained it very well for anybody to understand! Please keep making these supergood explanatory videos that also have very nice pictures. Also really appreciated that animation in the end. It helped a lot with imagination.

[@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum]

Beautiful images. Enjoyed video.

[@random55912]

Great explanation! Thanks!

[@marcusvaldes]

Love these videos and Michael Merrifield!

[@Onychoprion27]

So, is the LMC the companion that gives the Milky Way it's spiral arms? On that note, I'm curious as to how we know what the Milky Way looks like! Could you do a video on that?

[@pindakaas42]

very nicely explained really cool^^

[@tennisguyky]

I remember finally seeing this so faintly through binoculars one night and it was so thrilling to see it and know that I’m looking at something 23 million years in the past!

[@Norm7634]

Loved your explanation of spiral structure very informative. Interestingly, I was just looking at M51 last night. I always struggle finding 51 & 101 with my 10 inch dob and 10 inch Schmidt - Newtonion, but last night it was suprisingly easy, I pointed the Telrad and there they were!

[@zytigon]

Should it be possible to see both Alkaid (of Ursa Major) and M51 in a 8*50 finderscope simultaneously if it has field of view about 5 degrees ? If Stellarium is set about 5 degrees then they both appear, top & bottom of the screen. So if I set Alkaid to bottom of finderscope view then I should just move the telescope slowly down and get success ? (at a time of night that the pan handle of Ursa Major looks sort of horizontal ) I recently got a 10 inch dob but as far as galaxies go have only found M31 & M110.

[@naota3k]

My favorite Messier object. Thanks Brady! :)

[@drmoynihan]

Such a clear explanation for an object that I have observed many times. Thank you!

[@DimitarILIEV]

Great videos Brady, thank you, professor Mike Merrifield and dr. Meghan Gray.

[@KingofCannabis]

Absolutely love these videos, its depressing how seldom we get a new episode considering the size of the universe.

[@TheManglerPolishDeathMetal]

Amazing explanation

[@Pedozzi]

This is amazing, never thought about spirals like thatat 1:45, thank you very much

[@matthewvehslage6683]

Thanks for the explanation, Professor. I never thought of the spiral like that.

[@davidsimons5944]

It's got to be one of the most gorgeous objects in the universe!

[@williamivborges9151]

Hi, Brady. Please talk about spiral bar galaxies. I think that the galaxy model almost shows a bar structure for a brief moment in time.

[@matthewwilkens6044]

Thank you for what you do! It helps to educate an amateur sky-watcher like me a great deal.

[@PinkChucky15]

Great video, I loved learning more about spiral galaxies :-)

[@chromabotia]

Please explain the effects of dark matter on the dynamic evolution of spiral structure. Great videos...

[@tombombadillo1]

I learnt a lot more in this video than I expected to :P nice graphics on the video btw

[@telnx]

Yaa! New episode :D

[@matthewmcneany]

my absolute favourite galaxy.

[@eliotmiller3699]

1:14 "You can have spiral structure in relatively isolated galaxies, but it tends to be MESSIER" ehehehehehehehehhehhh

[@tezhug1890]

1:13 "You can have spiral structure in relatively isolated galaxies but it tends to be rather... ... messier" 😀

[@DevonLehmanJ]

"Tends to be rather messier" - unintentional pun 1:13

[@Kaffikjelen]

very nice! i like!

[@culwin]

Thumbs up for the animations

[@HillbillyHades]

YES! Finally Messier!

[@muhammadmukhtarsiddiqui1239]

this is my favorite the beautiful explanations to way the sky wonderful. thanks

[@JH-oe6yo]

my #1 goal in astrophotography is to image this cosmic event. I can't wait to get there.

[@ChabuFier]

So if there is more mass in the arms how does the increased gravity in them affect the formation of the arms? Will stars in their orbit accelerate towards the arm they are approaching and decelerate while leaving it?

[@markgarrett2519]

I loved the video. I don't usually comment, but this video deserves it.

[@maxkoller6315]

very interesting

[@UMosNyu]

It's truely beautiful! I wonder if the arms are just one of the things were humans recognize patterns when there are no.

[@Gooberslot]

I've been waiting for you to get to M51 because of my love of Homeworld.

[@tonyppe]

so are we on the way in or out of a spiral arm?

[@afonsoailton9304]

fantastic galaxy

[@joncody8344]

So does this mean that galaxies aren't spinning too fast? Or did they take the elliptical procession into account?

[@masbaiy4858]

Really like the interviewer. "Are we on the way in or are we on the way out?"

[@craigmooring2091]

Did anybody else catch that pun at about 1:15? He said that without the mass of a companion the spiral structure "just gets messier". Wonderfully clear explanation.

[@Triantalex]

No, nobody else.

[@harshchoudhary2817]

Such kind of Schockwave is the characteristic of solutions of Burger's equation. I wonder if this density wave can be modelled using Burger's equation

[@fraserwyllie8840]

I love listening to this guys voice haha

[@thmphll]

I have often heard that our solar system is in the sweet spot between the spiral arms as being in or near that arms is dangerous... If I understand this video correctly all star systems will move through these arms at some point as we move around the galaxy. Could there be a correlation between extinction events on earth and passing through these traffic jams of star systems?

[@LancerDL]

This is a brilliant explanation of why spiral arms aren't often all wound up! I've been wondering about this for a while. I understand that Dark Matter was put forward as an explanation for observed stellar velocities in other galaxies. Did the behaviour of spiral arms play a part in the theory of dark matter? If so, does this explanation mean dark matter is no longer required to explain this behaviour? I suppose this also means that our sun is closer to the galactic centre periodically. Where are we now in relation to that journey?

[@Unidentifying]

I think the point of dark matter is that it would not make a nice spiral since the velocities (or mass) creating a bulge at the end of the graphs of galaxies are just that: different. I dont see what behaviour of spiral arms you exactly mean that would explain this discrepency. But perhaps it is just this what makes it stable. I think dark matter could be many things, plasma discharge, some sort of induction or ionization maybe.

[@LancerDL]

+carelessbear In my understanding, Dark Matter was proposed to explain why stars, particularly outer ones, traveled faster around galaxies than the (visible) mass of the galaxy would predict. If there was only the gravity from the visible matter acting upon them, then the differential between the velocities of the inner and outer stars would be such that no spiral arm should be discernible (they'd have wound up long ago). This assumed that the arms represented specific stars, and I think Dark Matter was proposed to explain why spiral arms were visible (prevented them from winding up so quickly). Perhaps I'm wrong. If these are density waves however, then Dark Matter isn't needed to explain them. I presume however Dark Matter is still needed to explain stellar velocities.

[@Unidentifying]

+LancerDL Yep I see what you mean, I dont think so, but it might be :) Maybe these wound up galaxies you talk about exist and are the elleptic galaxies and such, and others are in the process of winding up Plasma physics has some solid explanations for DM but mainstream is a little slow. Thank you

[@michaelsommers2356]

+LancerDL _"In my understanding, Dark Matter was proposed to explain why stars, particularly outer ones, traveled faster around galaxies than the (visible) mass of the galaxy would predict."_ Correct. _" I think Dark Matter was proposed to explain why spiral arms were visible ..."_ You had it right the first time. DM was proposed simply to explain why the rotation speed of galaxies did not fall off as expected. The density wave theory already existed back then.

[@LancerDL]

Thanks for the clarification folks. It seems I have learned about these two things in the reverse order!

[@brandonlewis2599]

Does this mean that our system will eventually pass close to the center of the galaxy? If so, in how much time? And when we get closer to the center, will the sky still be dark at night, or will it be radiant like the galactic center?

[@zukacs]

gr8 pun m8 1:17

[@davidwilkie9551]

..duely added to favourites.

[@pros371]

why do the orbits get pulled around like that? why not uniformly like in the second picture?

[@natepetersen1508]

Okay, I'm very interested in seeing one of those diagrams for galaxies with more than two arms. What does that look like

[@natepetersen1508]

Oh also can I get the equation for that?

[@patrickchristensen96]

Coincidence? I just discovered DeepSkyVideos today. I looked for a M51 video but I could not find one. A couple of hours a M51 video was uploaded. Hmmm

[@thulyblu5486]

How do you explain the bars in barred spiral galaxies then (e.g. NGC 1300) ? That always puzzled me.

[@Unidentifying]

+Thulyblu -- A large self-gravity (or just unstable system)

[@cls9474]

Ahhhh! Now I understand! :)

[@Triantalex]

1:16 'It tends to be rather messier' - Why is nobody talking about this pun?!

[@RhysOlwyn]

Does it follow, then, that the spiral structure of the Milky Way is shaped by the Small & Large Magellanic Clouds?

[@lleevveell66]

Do we know where the sun is in it's elliptical orbit around our galactic center? How much closer or farther can/will we be to it? 230 Myr around the orbit is all anything tells me. How many years until we're closest and how many until we're farthest from the center? That's what I want to know.

[@lleevveell66]

BTW, I've been hooked on this Messier object playlist for 3 days, now. THANK you for these. Each and every video is chock full of awesome tidbits for someone just starting out (or trying to author a SciFi novel). Liked and subscribed!

[@tevang2]

I never heard in this video the term "space warping", namely the effect of massive objects, like the supermassive black hole in the center and the massive stars, on the trajectories of themselves and of the planets. Galaxy formation is more complicated if general relativity is taken into account.

[@davidsweeney111]

I wish these galaxies weren't so small, I can hardly see it in the sky, and it's so cold out at the moment in England. I do love these Fibonacci spirals though ;)

[@AddisonLarson]

whats our companion galaxy that tugs our arms?

[@Maladath]

So you are saying that the spiral structure in relatively isolated galaxies is Messier?

[@teknotoast]

I died with the prof said MESSIER

[@maatoha9097]

So our system is nor in an arm, kinda close to it... Are we in the galaxy's armpit?

[@TraitorVek]

But why is it even rotating? Is it going down the 'plug-hole' of the black hole? (simply put)...

[@greytoeimp]

Do we know how many planets are in that galaxy? If there was life on one of its planets, would we know? And finally, does the fact that most of the stars seem to be reddish mean the galaxy is younger, older, or no different from our galaxy?

[@BurnabyAlex]

does this model require dark matter?

[@Starchface]

Ah, a new Deep-Sky video at last. This may be my favourite of the Brady bunch of channels. Well, this, or Sixty Symbols. Objectivity is quite nice. Eh, they're all good. Still waiting for the new Foodskey video...

[@MrJimtimslim]

My next target!! Now I know all about it and can wax lyrical to anyone that is unfortunate to ask 😁

[@MatthewLong8]

haha, it tends to be Messier! pun obviously not intended.

[@AryanBenita]

Is that true that stars always ho clockwise in all galaxies? Because even those that go anti-clockwise, viewed from the other side, they also go clockwise!!!