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 May 23 2009  Messier 82 Starburst Galaxy |
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This irregular galaxy was discovered by Johann Bode in 1774, along with its close neighbor, spiral galaxy M81. Several smaller galaxies are also part of the group, which lies about 10 million light years away.
M82 has been nicknamed "the Cigar Galaxy" due to its general shape, but a close-up view shows an intricate network of dark dust lanes interlaced with pink star-forming regions. The intense star formation occurring in these regions could be a result of gravitational interaction with M81, or perhaps even a past collision of the two galaxies. The number of new stars forming in the center of M82 each year is three times as many as in the entire Milky Way. Supernovae appear in M82 about once every 10 years, on average, creating a superwind that blows out two jets of material, perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy, at a speed of about 500 miles per second. No wonder M82 has also been called "the Exploding Galaxy"!
Imaged using 10" SCT, SBigST7 CCD , 30min total exposure with LRGB filters. |
| Submitted by: LarryW | Location: Fenwick Observatory- Henrico, Va. USA | Date: January 25 2008 |
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May 23 2009
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