Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Звезды Андромеды: настоящее и будущее http://www.variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1833700/eng |
Credit & Copyright: NASA,
NSF,
NOAJ,
Hubble,
Subaru,
Mayall,
DSS,
Spitzer;
Processing & Copyright:
Robert Gendler &
Russell Croman
Explanation:
This picture of Andromeda shows not only where stars are now,
but where stars will soon be.
Of course, the big, beautiful
Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is a
spiral galaxy -- and a mere 2.5 million
light-years away.
Both space-based and ground-based observatories have been
here combined to produce
this intriguing composite image of Andromeda, at wavelengths both inside and
outside normally visible light.
The visible light shows where M31's stars are now -- as highlighted in white and
blue hues and imaged by the
Hubble,
Subaru, and
Mayall telescopes.
The infrared light shows where M31's future stars will soon form -- as highlighted
in orange hues and imaged by NASA's
Spitzer Space Telescope.
The infrared light tracks enormous
lanes of dust,
warmed by stars, sweeping along Andromeda's spiral arms.
This dust is a tracer of the galaxy's vast interstellar
gas -- the raw material for future
star formation.
These new stars will likely form over the next hundred million years,
surely
well before Andromeda
merges with our
Milky Way Galaxy in about 5 billion years.
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.