images

The irregular galaxy M82 in Ursa Major

by

Wiyn/Nsf/Nasa/ESA/Novapix

Reference

a-gax30-34002

Date

2006-09-09

This image is a color-coded picture of the archetypal starburst galaxy M82. It shows the horizontal stellar disk of the galaxy, which harbors its active star formation, and a perpendicular supergalactic wind of ionized gas powered by the energy released in the starburst. To make this image, data from the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope on Kitt Peak were combined with data from the WFPC2 camera on the Hubble Space Telescope. Purple represents emission in ionized hydrogen (H-alpha) and ionized nitrogen, and the green is ionized sulfur in the WIYN data.