Pinwheel Galaxy

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/pinwheel-galaxy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered the Pinwheel Galaxy?1781
2. What is the galaxy type?Intermediate spiral galaxy (Sc)
3. What is the location?Constellation Ursa Major
4. Why do the arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy glow?The arms glow because they have H II regions, which are clouds of ionized hydrogen where new stars are forming.
5. How big is the Pinwheel Galaxy?It is about 170,000 light‑years wide, which is larger than our Milky Way galaxy.

Spiral Galaxy: A galaxy with a flat, rotating disk and spiral arms, typically containing young stars and gas.
H II Region: A cloud of ionized hydrogen gas where new stars are actively forming.
Light-year: The astronomical unit of distance, equal to the distance that light travels in one year.
Messier Catalog: A list of 110 deep-sky objects compiled by Charles Messier, used to identify nebulae and star clusters.