Posted on 10/17/2005 7:55:09 AM PDT by kanawa
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a stunning infrared view of Messier 31, the famous spiral galaxy also known as Andromeda.
Andromeda is the most-studied galaxy outside our own Milky Way, yet Spitzer's sensitive infrared eyes have detected captivating new features, including bright, aging stars and a spiral arc in the center of the galaxy. The infrared image also reveals an off-centered ring of star formation and a hole in the galaxy's spiral disk of arms. These asymmetrical features may have been caused by interactions with the several satellite galaxies that surround Andromeda.
"Occasionally small satellite galaxies run straight through bigger galaxies," said Dr. Karl Gordon of the Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, lead investigator of the new observation. "It appears a little galaxy punched a hole through Andromeda's disk, much like a pebble breaks the surface of a pond."
The new false-color Andromeda image is available at http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/ .
Approximately 2.5 million light-years away, Andromeda is the closest spiral galaxy and is the only one visible to the naked eye. Unlike our Milky Way galaxy, which we view from the inside, Andromeda is studied from the outside. Astronomers believe that Andromeda and the Milky Way will eventually merge together.
Spitzer detects dust heated by stars in the galaxy. Its multiband imaging photometer's 24-micron detector recorded approximately 11,000 separate infrared snapshots over 18 hours to create the new comprehensive mosaic. This instrument's resolution and sensitivity is a vast improvement over previous infrared technologies, enabling scientists to trace the spiral structures within Andromeda to an unprecedented level of detail.
"In contrast to the smooth appearance of Andromeda at optical wavelengths, the Spitzer image reveals a well-defined nuclear bulge and a system of spiral arms," said Dr. Susan Stolovy, a co-investigator from the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
The galaxy's central bulge glows in the light emitted by warm dust from old, giant stars. Just outside the bulge, a system of inner spiral arms can be seen, and outside this, a well-known prominent ring of star formation.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a division of Caltech.
That is true..
I never dreamed to lay eyes on another GALAXY.
Now how many assume that humans are the highest level of intellegence in the entire universe and don't think there might be SOME intellegent life in that galaxy. Not to say they are making visits to toothless men with homosexual probing fantasies in the desert, but they might be out there.
Overwhelming beauty.
That is correct, and that will happen in a billion years from now..
>>>Andromeda is moving toward our galaxy, I believe, and will some day crash right into us.>>>
How cool would that be??? Deadly, yes, but really really cool!
Those are stunning.
Nice post!
That's a lot like the Milky Way. In other words, we look like that, too.
please add me to space ping list. Fantastic photo!
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork." -- Ps 19:1
Minorities and children most affected.
The Milky Way has several identified arms. We live in the outskirts of one of the minor arms in a relatively dust-free hole 500 lightyears across. The arm may be seen by looking in the direction of Sagittarius on any clear, dark night--if there are any such nights anymore. The Milky Way does not appear to be a barred spiral.
I remember from childhood when the Milky Way was actually visible that a lot of structure could be seen like a superhighway going off into the distance as far as you could imagine. Come to think of it, though, there was a report that the main structure is slightly barred, not as pronounced as the one in your image.
You can see the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye alone if you have a dark enough sky. Star hop from Mirach to the star in the opposite 'leg' to Andromeda. It will look like a fuzzy patch. Not looking right at it may reveal it easier (averted vision can see dimmer objects than direct vision.) I have read that it is the farthest thing visible to the naked eye--some 2 million light years away.
M31 has remained easily seen even while the quality of the night sky has turned to pond scum. If you can see the Square of Pegasus, which is still easy, you can follow the stars over and up and there it is. Even when the dimmest visible star is mag 3, M31 is still there, fuzzy as ever.
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