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Galaxy M82 in multi-wavelength
auteur: Nasa/ESA/CXC/JPL-Caltech/Novapix
référence: a-gax30-34007
Image Size 300 DPI: 54 * 44 cm
Composite of multi-wavelength images of the active galaxy M82 from the three Great Observatories. X-ray data recorded by Chandra appears here in blue; infrared light recorded by Spitzer appears in red; Hubble's observations of hydrogen emission appears in orange, and the bluest visible light appears in yellow-green. Another Hubble observation designed to image 10,000 degree Celsius hydrogen gas (orange) reveals a startlingly different picture of matter blasting out of the galaxy. The Spitzer Space Telescope infrared image (red) shows that cool gas and dust are also being ejected. Chandra's X-ray image (blue) reveals gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by the violent outflow. The eruption can be traced back to the central regions of the galaxy where stars are forming at a furious rate, some 10 times faster than in the Milky Way Galaxy. The burst of star formation in M82 is thought to have been initiated by shock waves generated in a close encounter with a large nearby galaxy, M81, about 100 million years ago. These shock waves triggered the collapse of giant clouds of dust and gas in M82. In another 100 million years or so, most of the gas and dust will have been used to form stars, or blown out of the galaxy, so the starburst will subside.
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