Awesome Picture of M82 Galaxy

Image of the Messier 82 galaxy (also known as NGC 3034 or the Cigar Galaxy) It is a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Forming a striking pair in small telescopes with nearby M81, M82 is being physically affected by its bigger neighbor. Tidal forces caused by gravity have deformed this galaxy, a process that started roughly 100 million years ago. This interaction has caused star formation to increase 10 fold compared to "normal" galaxies.
Click here for a full size, high resolution image.Dial-up users beware.

2 comments:

Farrukh said...

This is really awesome. Cant believe it was taken by a DSI-C.
I will try with my DSI 2 color.

Anonymous said...

It wasn't taken with a DSI - look at the URL it came from -- Spitzer/Chandra

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