Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, NGC 5194

About 31 million light-years (9.6 Megaparsecs)

This image was created from HST data from proposal 10452: S. Beckwith (STScI), R. Kennicutt Jr. (University of Arizona), and H. Bond, C. Christian, L. Frattare, F. Hamilton, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, K. Noll, and T. Royle (The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI).
Note: High level science products (combined and mosaiced fits files for each filter) are available at: http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/m51

F435W (B), F555W (V), F658N (Halpha + [N II]), F814W (I)

NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Blue: F435W (B)
Green: F555W (V)
Red: F658N (Halpha + [N II]) + F814W (I)