The Pinwheel Galaxy is one of the most fantastic spiral galaxies to view because it faces the Earth, showing itself in all its awesome glory.

The galaxy, measuring 170,000 light-years across, is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy spot, but to see any detail large telescopes must be used, and the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma, Canary Islands has done just that by capturing the new three-colour composite image of the galaxy face on.
Officially known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457, it is a classic spiral galaxy 27 million light years from Earth in the Ursa Major constellation, and is more commonly known as the Big Dipper.

Image: Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes / Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias