Images From Space Telescopes Produce Stunning View of Starburst Galaxy

Chandra_320_1024

chandra_320 April 24th, 2006

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht

Images from three of NASA's Great Observatories were combined to create this spectacular, multiwavelength view of the starburst galaxy M82. Optical light from stars (yellow-green/Hubble Space Telescope) shows the disk of a modest-sized, apparently normal galaxy. 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 heated to millions of degrees by the violent outflow, which can be traced back to vigorous star formation in the central regions of the galaxy. The burst of star formation is thought to have been initiated by a close encounter with a large nearby galaxy, M81, about 100 million years ago.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/m82/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M82
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Activity > Starburst

Distance

Universescale2
12,000,000 light years
Chandra_320_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 9h 56m 26.5s
DEC = 69° 42’ 19.3”
Orientation
North is 49.9° CCW
Field of View
10.7 x 8.7 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (B-band) 440.0 nm
Orange Hubble (ACS) Optical (H-alpha) 656.0 nm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Green
Orange
Red
Chandra_320_1280
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ID
320
Subject Category
C.5.3.3.  
Subject Name
M82
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht
Release Date
2006-04-24
Lightyears
12,000,000
Redshift
12,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/m82/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Hubble, Hubble, Spitzer
Instrument
ACIS, ACS, ACS, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Orange, Red
Band
X-ray, Optical, Optical, Infrared
Bandpass
X-ray, B-band, H-alpha, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
0.8267, 440, 656, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
149.11051168, 69.7053749827
Reference Dimension
4299, 3490
Reference Pixel
922.146820068, 1153.85690308
Scale
-4.1635027032331E-05, 4.1635027032331E-05
Rotation
49.936065630295
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
m82_comp.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-30T15:55:06-04:00
Metadata Version
1.0
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
12,000,000 light years

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