Astronomers released this beautiful photograph of the grand spiral design galaxy, M81, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Although it looks like a single image, it was actually constructed by stitching together many images on computer, using three different wavelengths of light.
M81 is located about 11.6 million light-years in the constellation of Ursa Major. We’re fortunate that it’s turned at an oblique angle towards the Earth, so we can see a full view of the spiral structure. Hubble’s view of M81 is so crisp and clear that individual stars can be resolved, as well as open clusters and globular star clusters.
The older, redder stars are contained around the galaxy’s central bulge, and it has regions of star formation along its spiral arms. Astronomers suspect that its recent nearby encounter with another galaxy (M82) unleashed the period of star formation about 300 million years ago.
The image was released as part of the Americal Astronomical Society Meeting in Honolulu, which is currently going on in Hawaii.
Original Source: Hubble News Release
Recent Posts
Earth’s Temporary Moon Might Have Come from THE Moon
A tiny asteroid loitering in a near-Earth orbit for a few months last year may…
Galaxy Cores May be Giant Fuzzy Dark Stars
A fuzzy form of dark matter may clump up to become the cores of galaxies,…
This Quasar Helped End the Dark Ages of the Universe
After the Big Bang came the Dark Ages, a period lasting hundreds of millions of…
Webb Provides an Explanation for “Little Red Dots”
When a new space telescope is launched, it's designed to address specific issues in astronomy…
Astronomers Reveal the 3D Structure of the Ring Nebula
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have seen the Ring Nebula. It’s…
It’s Official, 2024 Was the Hottest Year on Record
Climate scientists must fear sounding like a broken record when discussing new record temperatures yearly.…