Why does the Andromeda Galaxy have a giant ring? Viewed in ultraviolet light [ http://imagers.gsfc…], the closest major galaxy to our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://www.seds.org…] looks more like a ring galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] than a spiral [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The ring is highlighted beautifully in this newly released image mosaic of Andromeda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (M31) taken by the GALaxy Evolution Explorer [ http://www.galex.ca…] (GALEX), a satellite launched into Earth orbit in April. In the above image [ http://www.galex.ca…], ultraviolet colors have been digitally shifted to the visual. Young blue stars [ http://adsabs.harva…] dominate the image, indicating the star forming ring [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] as well as other star forming regions even further from the galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The origin of the huge 150,000-light year [ http://chandra.harv…] ring is unknown but likely related to gravitational interactions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] with small satellite galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that orbit near the galactic giant. M31 [ http://www.seds.org…] lies about three million light-years distant and is bright enough to be seen without binoculars toward the constellation [ http://en2.wikipedi…] of Andromeda [ http://www.astronom…].
Explanation
Why does the Andromeda Galaxy have a giant ring? Viewed in ultraviolet light [ http://imagers.gsfc…], the closest major galaxy to our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://www.seds.org…] looks more like a ring galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] than a spiral [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The ring is highlighted beautifully in this newly released image mosaic of Andromeda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (M31) taken by the GALaxy Evolution Explorer [ http://www.galex.ca…] (GALEX), a satellite launched into Earth orbit in April. In the above image [ http://www.galex.ca…], ultraviolet colors have been digitally shifted to the visual. Young blue stars [ http://adsabs.harva…] dominate the image, indicating the star forming ring [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] as well as other star forming regions even further from the galactic center [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The origin of the huge 150,000-light year [ http://chandra.harv…] ring is unknown but likely related to gravitational interactions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] with small satellite galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that orbit near the galactic giant. M31 [ http://www.seds.org…] lies about three million light-years distant and is bright enough to be seen without binoculars toward the constellation [ http://en2.wikipedi…] of Andromeda [ http://www.astronom…].
