The Andromeda Galaxy in Ultraviolet
Explanation:
What does the Andromeda galaxy look like in ultraviolet light?
Young blue stars circling the galactic center dominate.
A mere 2.5 million light-years away, the
Andromeda Galaxy, also
known as M31, really is just next door as large galaxies go.
Spanning
about 230,000 light-years, it took 11 different image fields from NASA's
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite
telescope to produce this gorgeous portrait of the
spiral galaxy in
ultraviolet light in 2003.
While its spiral arms stand out in
visible light images,
Andromeda's arms look more like
rings in ultraviolet.
The rings are sites of intense
star formation and have been interpreted as
evidence that Andromeda collided with its smaller neighboring
elliptical galaxy M32 more than 200 million years ago.
The
Andromeda galaxy and our own comparable
Milky Way galaxy are the most massive members of the
Local Group
of galaxies and are
projected to collide in several billion years -- perhaps
around the time that our Sun's
atmosphere will expand
to
engulf the Earth.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
