This March 16, 2026, image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope takes a closer look at the core of Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. At 25 million light-years away, M101 is one of the closest “face-on” spiral galaxies to us. With that in mind, Hubble’s ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared data were taken as part of studies to find out more about its stellar population and galactic structure.

See more images from Hubble’s Messier Marathon 2026.

Image credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts – Amherst), C. Clark (Space Telescope Science Institute – ESA – JWST), K. Kuntz (The John Hopkins University), and B. Shappee (University of Hawaii); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)