images

Ultraviolet image of M81 and M82

by

Nasa/Novapix

Reference

a-gax30-31004

Date

2006-09-09

Ultraviolet image of Messier 81 and Messier 82 (NGC 3031 et 3034), a pair of galaxies lying 10 million light- years distant. The stars in M81 spiral arms have formed within the last 100 million years, as have most of the stars in a nearby dwarf galaxy just to the left of M81. GALEX reveals that star formation is occurring quite distant from the nucleus of M81 in the faint blue extensions to the brighter spiral arms.  The upper half of the full GALEX field of view shows the remarkable star forming galaxy M82.