Gorgeous spiral [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] galaxy M33 seems to have more than its fair share of hydrogen. Its inner 30,000 light-years are shown here in [
http://www.schursas…m33ha2.html ] an image processed to fully reveal the reddish glow of ionized hydrogen regions (HII regions [
http://en.wikipedia…]) sprawling along loose spiral arms that wind toward the galaxy's core. Historically of [
http://adsabs.harva…bib_query?1926ApJ... .63..236H ] great interest to astronomers, M33's giant HII regions [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] are some of the largest known stellar nurseries - sites of the formation [
http://dolomiti.pha…] of short-lived but very massive stars [
http://casswww.ucsd…]. Intense ultraviolet radiation from the luminous, massive stars ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas and ultimately produces the characteristic red glow. A prominent member of the local group of galaxies [
http://atlasoftheun…], M33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy [
http://www.seds.org…] and lies about 3 million light-years distant.
Explanation
Gorgeous spiral [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] galaxy M33 seems to have more than its fair share of hydrogen. Its inner 30,000 light-years are shown here in [
http://www.schursas…m33ha2.html ] an image processed to fully reveal the reddish glow of ionized hydrogen regions (HII regions [
http://en.wikipedia…]) sprawling along loose spiral arms that wind toward the galaxy's core. Historically of [
http://adsabs.harva…bib_query?1926ApJ... .63..236H ] great interest to astronomers, M33's giant HII regions [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] are some of the largest known stellar nurseries - sites of the formation [
http://dolomiti.pha…] of short-lived but very massive stars [
http://casswww.ucsd…]. Intense ultraviolet radiation from the luminous, massive stars ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas and ultimately produces the characteristic red glow. A prominent member of the local group of galaxies [
http://atlasoftheun…], M33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy [
http://www.seds.org…] and lies about 3 million light-years distant.
Explanation
