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First sketch of the Whirlpool Galaxy's spiral structure
First sketch of the Whirlpool Galaxy's spiral structure This sketch of the Whirlpool Galaxy from 1845 represents a breakthrough in our understanding of the cosmos. Irish astronomer William Parsons had recently completed construction of the world’s largest telescope, the 72-inch "Leviathan of Parsonstown." He used this groundbreaking observatory to look at the Whirlpool Galaxy and saw, for the first time, the spiral structure of a galaxy. The Leviathan of Parsonstown remained the world’s largest telescope, in terms of aperture size, until 1917.