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Dwarf Galaxies Swimming in T
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| Title |
Dwarf Galaxies Swimming in Tidal Tails |
| Description |
This false-color infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows little "dwarf galaxies" forming in the "tails" of two larger galaxies that are colliding together. The big galaxies are at the center of the picture, while the dwarfs can be seen as red dots in the red streamers, or tidal tails. The two blue dots above the big galaxies are stars in the foreground. Galaxy mergers are common occurrences in the universe, for example, our own Milky Way galaxy will eventually smash into the nearby Andromeda galaxy. When two galaxies meet, they tend to rip each other apart, leaving a trail, called a tidal tail, of gas and dust in their wake. It is out of this galactic debris that new dwarf galaxies are born. The new Spitzer picture demonstrates that these particular dwarfs are actively forming stars. The red color indicates the presence of dust produced in star-forming regions, including organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. PAHs are also found on Earth, in car exhaust and on burnt toast, among other places. Here, the PAHs are being heated up by the young stars, and, as a result, shine in infrared light. This image was taken by the infrared array camera on Spitzer. It is a 4-color composite of infrared light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). Starlight has been subtracted from the orange and red channels in order to enhance the dust, or PAH, features. |
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Fade to Red
| Title |
Fade to Red |
| Description |
This animation shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The visible-light image highlights the galaxy's population of about one trillion stars. The stars are so crammed into its core that this region blazes with bright starlight. In contrast, the false-colored Spitzer view reveals red waves of dust against a more tranquil sea of blue stars. The dust lanes can be seen twirling all the way into the galaxy's center. This dust is warmed by young stars and shines at infrared wavelengths , which are represented in red. The blue color signifies shorter-wavelength infrared light primarily from older stars. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. |
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Andromeda Makes a Splash
| Title |
Andromeda Makes a Splash |
| Description |
This infrared composite image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Andromeda galaxy, a neighbor to our Milky Way galaxy. The main image (top) highlights the contrast between the galaxy's choppy waves of dust (red) and smooth sea of older stars (blue). The panels below the main image show the galaxy's older stars (left) and dust (right) separately. Spiral galaxies tend to form new stars in their dusty, clumpy arms, while their cores are populated by older stars. The Spitzer view also shows Andromeda's dust lanes twisting all the way into the center of the galaxy, a region that is crammed full of stars. In visible-light pictures, this central region tends to be dominated by starlight. Astronomers used these new images to measure the total infrared brightness of Andromeda. Because the amount of infrared light given off by stars depends on their masses, the brightness measurements provided a novel method for "weighing" the Andromeda galaxy. According to this method, the mass of the stars in Andromeda is about110 billion times that of the sun, which is in agreement with past calculations. This means the galaxy contains about one trillion stars (because most stars are actually less massive than the sun). For comparison, the Milky Way is estimated to hold about 400 billion stars. A small, companion galaxy called NGC 205 is visible above Andromeda. Another companion galaxy called M32 can also been seen below the galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. |
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Andromeda Makes a Splash
| Title |
Andromeda Makes a Splash |
| Description |
This infrared composite image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Andromeda galaxy, a neighbor to our Milky Way galaxy. The main image (top) highlights the contrast between the galaxy's choppy waves of dust (red) and smooth sea of older stars (blue). The panels below the main image show the galaxy's older stars (left) and dust (right) separately. Spiral galaxies tend to form new stars in their dusty, clumpy arms, while their cores are populated by older stars. The Spitzer view also shows Andromeda's dust lanes twisting all the way into the center of the galaxy, a region that is crammed full of stars. In visible-light pictures, this central region tends to be dominated by starlight. Astronomers used these new images to measure the total infrared brightness of Andromeda. Because the amount of infrared light given off by stars depends on their masses, the brightness measurements provided a novel method for "weighing" the Andromeda galaxy. According to this method, the mass of the stars in Andromeda is about110 billion times that of the sun, which is in agreement with past calculations. This means the galaxy contains about one trillion stars (because most stars are actually less massive than the sun). For comparison, the Milky Way is estimated to hold about 400 billion stars. A small, companion galaxy called NGC 205 is visible above Andromeda. Another companion galaxy called M32 can also been seen below the galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. |
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Andromeda Makes a Splash
| Title |
Andromeda Makes a Splash |
| Description |
This infrared composite image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Andromeda galaxy, a neighbor to our Milky Way galaxy. The main image (top) highlights the contrast between the galaxy's choppy waves of dust (red) and smooth sea of older stars (blue). The panels below the main image show the galaxy's older stars (left) and dust (right) separately. Spiral galaxies tend to form new stars in their dusty, clumpy arms, while their cores are populated by older stars. The Spitzer view also shows Andromeda's dust lanes twisting all the way into the center of the galaxy, a region that is crammed full of stars. In visible-light pictures, this central region tends to be dominated by starlight. Astronomers used these new images to measure the total infrared brightness of Andromeda. Because the amount of infrared light given off by stars depends on their masses, the brightness measurements provided a novel method for "weighing" the Andromeda galaxy. According to this method, the mass of the stars in Andromeda is about110 billion times that of the sun, which is in agreement with past calculations. This means the galaxy contains about one trillion stars (because most stars are actually less massive than the sun). For comparison, the Milky Way is estimated to hold about 400 billion stars. A small, companion galaxy called NGC 205 is visible above Andromeda. Another companion galaxy called M32 can also been seen below the galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. |
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Andromeda Makes a Splash
| Title |
Andromeda Makes a Splash |
| Description |
This infrared composite image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Andromeda galaxy, a neighbor to our Milky Way galaxy. The main image (top) highlights the contrast between the galaxy's choppy waves of dust (red) and smooth sea of older stars (blue). The panels below the main image show the galaxy's older stars (left) and dust (right) separately. Spiral galaxies tend to form new stars in their dusty, clumpy arms, while their cores are populated by older stars. The Spitzer view also shows Andromeda's dust lanes twisting all the way into the center of the galaxy, a region that is crammed full of stars. In visible-light pictures, this central region tends to be dominated by starlight. Astronomers used these new images to measure the total infrared brightness of Andromeda. Because the amount of infrared light given off by stars depends on their masses, the brightness measurements provided a novel method for "weighing" the Andromeda galaxy. According to this method, the mass of the stars in Andromeda is about110 billion times that of the sun, which is in agreement with past calculations. This means the galaxy contains about one trillion stars (because most stars are actually less massive than the sun). For comparison, the Milky Way is estimated to hold about 400 billion stars. A small, companion galaxy called NGC 205 is visible above Andromeda. Another companion galaxy called M32 can also been seen below the galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. |
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Exotic World Blisters Under
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| Title |
Exotic World Blisters Under the Sun |
| Description |
This artist's concept shows a Jupiter-like planet soaking up the scorching rays of its nearby "sun." NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope used its heat-seeking infrared eyes to figure out that a gas-giant planet like the one depicted here is two-faced, with one side perpetually in the cold dark, and the other forever blistering under the heat of its star. The illustration portrays how the planet would appear to infrared eyes, showing temperature variations across its surface. The planet, called Upsilon Andromedae b, was first discovered in 1996 around the star Upsilon Andromedae, located 40 light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. This star also has two other planets orbiting farther out. Upsilon Andromedae b is what's known as a "hot-Jupiter" planet, because it is made of gas like our Jovian giant, and it is hot, due to its tight, 4.6-day-long jaunt around its star. The toasty planet orbits at one-sixth the distance of Mercury from our own sun. It travels in a plane that is seen neither edge- nor face-on from our solar system, but somewhere in between. Scientists do not know how fast Upsilon Andromedae b is spinning on its axis, but they believe that it is tidally locked to its star, just as our locked moon forever hides its "dark side" from Earth's view. Spitzer observed Upsilon Andromedae b at five points during the planet's trip around its star. The planet's light levels went up or down, as detected by Spitzer, depending on whether the planet's sunlit or dark side was pointed toward Earth. These data indicate that the temperature difference between the two hemispheres of the planet is about 1,400 degrees Celsius (2,550 degrees Fahrenheit). According to astronomers, this means that the side of the planet that faces the star is always as hot as lava, while the other side could potentially be as cold as ice. Specifically, the hot side of the planet ranges from about 1,400 to 1,650 degrees Celsius (2,550 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit), and the cold side from about minus 20 to 230 degrees Celsius (minus 4 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit). How can one side always be hot? The atmosphere of the planet must be absorbing and reradiating light fast enough that any heated gas circulating around the planet is cooled off before it reaches the dark side. |
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Galactic Hearts of Glass
PIA02180
Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
| Title |
Galactic Hearts of Glass |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click on image for larger graph This artist's concept shows delicate greenish crystals sprinkled throughout the violent core of a pair of colliding galaxies. The white spots represent a thriving population of stars of all sizes and ages. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detected more than 20 bright and dusty galactic mergers like the one depicted here, all teeming with the tiny gem-like crystals. When galaxies collide, they trigger the birth of large numbers of massive stars. Astronomers believe these blazing hot stars act like furnaces to produce silicate crystals in the same way that glass is made from sand. The stars probably shed the crystals as they age, and as they blow apart in supernovae explosions. At the same time the crystals are being churned out, they are also being destroyed. Fast-moving particles from supernova blasts easily convert silicates crystals back to their amorphous, or shapeless, form. How is Spitzer seeing the crystals if they are rapidly disappearing? Astronomers say that, for a short period of time at the beginning of galactic mergers, massive stars might be producing silicate crystals faster than they are eliminating them. When our own galaxy merges with the Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years, a similar burst of massive stars and silicate crystals might occur. Crystal Storm in Distant Galaxy The graph (see inset above) of infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that a distant galaxy called IRAS 08752+3915 is experiencing a storm of tiny crystals made up of silicates. The crystals are similar to the glass-like grains of sand found on Earth's many beaches. The data were taken by Spitzer's infrared spectrograph, which splits light open to reveal its rainbow-like components. The resulting spectrum shown here reveals the signatures of both crystalline (green) and non-crystalline (brown) silicates. Spitzer detected the same crystals in 20 additional galaxies, all belonging to a class called ultraluminous infrared galaxies. These extremely bright and dusty galaxies usually consist of two galaxies in the process of smashing into each other. Astronomers believe massive stars at the hearts of the galaxies are churning out clouds of silicate crystals. This phenomenon may represent a short-lived phase in the evolution of galactic mergers. |
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Galactic Hearts of Glass
PIA02180
Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
| Title |
Galactic Hearts of Glass |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click on image for larger graph This artist's concept shows delicate greenish crystals sprinkled throughout the violent core of a pair of colliding galaxies. The white spots represent a thriving population of stars of all sizes and ages. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detected more than 20 bright and dusty galactic mergers like the one depicted here, all teeming with the tiny gem-like crystals. When galaxies collide, they trigger the birth of large numbers of massive stars. Astronomers believe these blazing hot stars act like furnaces to produce silicate crystals in the same way that glass is made from sand. The stars probably shed the crystals as they age, and as they blow apart in supernovae explosions. At the same time the crystals are being churned out, they are also being destroyed. Fast-moving particles from supernova blasts easily convert silicates crystals back to their amorphous, or shapeless, form. How is Spitzer seeing the crystals if they are rapidly disappearing? Astronomers say that, for a short period of time at the beginning of galactic mergers, massive stars might be producing silicate crystals faster than they are eliminating them. When our own galaxy merges with the Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years, a similar burst of massive stars and silicate crystals might occur. Crystal Storm in Distant Galaxy The graph (see inset above) of infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that a distant galaxy called IRAS 08752+3915 is experiencing a storm of tiny crystals made up of silicates. The crystals are similar to the glass-like grains of sand found on Earth's many beaches. The data were taken by Spitzer's infrared spectrograph, which splits light open to reveal its rainbow-like components. The resulting spectrum shown here reveals the signatures of both crystalline (green) and non-crystalline (brown) silicates. Spitzer detected the same crystals in 20 additional galaxies, all belonging to a class called ultraluminous infrared galaxies. These extremely bright and dusty galaxies usually consist of two galaxies in the process of smashing into each other. Astronomers believe massive stars at the hearts of the galaxies are churning out clouds of silicate crystals. This phenomenon may represent a short-lived phase in the evolution of galactic mergers. |
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Dwarf Galaxies Swimming in T
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PIA03605
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
| Title |
Dwarf Galaxies Swimming in Tidal Tails |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This false-color infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows little "dwarf galaxies" forming in the "tails" of two larger galaxies that are colliding together. The big galaxies are at the center of the picture, while the dwarfs can be seen as red dots in the red streamers, or tidal tails. The two blue dots above the big galaxies are stars in the foreground. Galaxy mergers are common occurrences in the universe, for example, our own Milky Way galaxy will eventually smash into the nearby Andromeda galaxy. When two galaxies meet, they tend to rip each other apart, leaving a trail, called a tidal tail, of gas and dust in their wake. It is out of this galactic debris that new dwarf galaxies are born. The new Spitzer picture demonstrates that these particular dwarfs are actively forming stars. The red color indicates the presence of dust produced in star-forming regions, including organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These carbon-containing molecules are also found on Earth, in car exhaust and on burnt toast, among other places. Here, the molecules are being heated up by the young stars, and, as a result, shine in infrared light. This image was taken by the infrared array camera on Spitzer. It is a 4-color composite of infrared light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). Starlight has been subtracted from the orange and red channels in order to enhance the dust features. |
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Exotic World Blisters Under
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PIA01938
| Title |
Exotic World Blisters Under the Sun |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This artist's concept shows a Jupiter-like planet soaking up the scorching rays of its nearby "sun." NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope used its heat-seeking infrared eyes to figure out that a gas-giant planet like the one depicted here is two-faced, with one side perpetually in the cold dark, and the other forever blistering under the heat of its star. The illustration portrays how the planet would appear to infrared eyes, showing temperature variations across its surface. The planet, called Upsilon Andromedae b, was first discovered in 1996 around the star Upsilon Andromedae, located 40 light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. This star also has two other planets orbiting farther out. Upsilon Andromedae b is what's known as a "hot-Jupiter" planet, because it is made of gas like our Jovian giant, and it is hot, due to its tight, 4.6-day-long jaunt around its star. The toasty planet orbits at one-sixth the distance of Mercury from our own sun. It travels in a plane that is seen neither edge- nor face-on from our solar system, but somewhere in between. Scientists do not know how fast Upsilon Andromedae b is spinning on its axis, but they believe that it is tidally locked to its star, just as our locked moon forever hides its "dark side" from Earth's view. Spitzer observed Upsilon Andromedae b at five points during the planet's trip around its star. The planet's light levels went up or down, as detected by Spitzer, depending on whether the planet's sunlit or dark side was pointed toward Earth. These data indicate that the temperature difference between the two hemispheres of the planet is about 1,400 degrees Celsius (2,550 degrees Fahrenheit). According to astronomers, this means that the side of the planet that faces the star is always as hot as lava, while the other side could potentially be as cold as ice. Specifically, the hot side of the planet ranges from about 1,400 to 1,650 degrees Celsius (2,550 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit), and the cold side from about minus 20 to 230 degrees Celsius (minus 4 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit). How can one side always be hot? The atmosphere of the planet must be absorbing and reradiating light fast enough that any heated gas circulating around the planet is cooled off before it reaches the dark side. |
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Fade to Red
PIA08506
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
| Title |
Fade to Red |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Infrared Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Poster This animation shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The visible-light image highlights the galaxy's population of about one trillion stars. The stars are so crammed into its core that this region blazes with bright starlight. In contrast, the false-colored Spitzer view reveals red waves of dust against a more tranquil sea of blue stars. The dust lanes can be seen twirling all the way into the galaxy's center. This dust is warmed by young stars and shines at infrared wavelengths , which are represented in red. The blue color signifies shorter-wavelength infrared light primarily from older stars. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. Note: The size of the Full-Res TIFF for the still image is 14772 samples x 4953 lines. |
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Fade to Red
PIA08506
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
| Title |
Fade to Red |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Infrared Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Poster This animation shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The visible-light image highlights the galaxy's population of about one trillion stars. The stars are so crammed into its core that this region blazes with bright starlight. In contrast, the false-colored Spitzer view reveals red waves of dust against a more tranquil sea of blue stars. The dust lanes can be seen twirling all the way into the galaxy's center. This dust is warmed by young stars and shines at infrared wavelengths , which are represented in red. The blue color signifies shorter-wavelength infrared light primarily from older stars. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. Note: The size of the Full-Res TIFF for the still image is 14772 samples x 4953 lines. |
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Fade to Red
PIA08506
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
| Title |
Fade to Red |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Infrared Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Poster This animation shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The visible-light image highlights the galaxy's population of about one trillion stars. The stars are so crammed into its core that this region blazes with bright starlight. In contrast, the false-colored Spitzer view reveals red waves of dust against a more tranquil sea of blue stars. The dust lanes can be seen twirling all the way into the galaxy's center. This dust is warmed by young stars and shines at infrared wavelengths , which are represented in red. The blue color signifies shorter-wavelength infrared light primarily from older stars. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. Note: The size of the Full-Res TIFF for the still image is 14772 samples x 4953 lines. |
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Fade to Red
PIA08506
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
| Title |
Fade to Red |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Infrared Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Poster This animation shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, then as seen in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The visible-light image highlights the galaxy's population of about one trillion stars. The stars are so crammed into its core that this region blazes with bright starlight. In contrast, the false-colored Spitzer view reveals red waves of dust against a more tranquil sea of blue stars. The dust lanes can be seen twirling all the way into the galaxy's center. This dust is warmed by young stars and shines at infrared wavelengths , which are represented in red. The blue color signifies shorter-wavelength infrared light primarily from older stars. The Andromeda galaxy, also known affectionately by astronomers as Messier 31, is located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, making it the ideal specimen for carefully examining the nature of galaxies. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy can be spotted with the naked eye as a fuzzy blob. Andromeda's entire disk spans about 260,000 light-years, which means that a light beam would take 260,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. By comparison, the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across. When viewed from Earth, Andromeda occupies a portion of the sky equivalent to seven full moons. Because this galaxy is so large, the infrared images had to be stitched together out of about 3,000 separate Spitzer exposures. The light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera at 3.6 and 4.5 microns is sensitive mostly to starlight and is shown in blue and green, respectively. The 8-micron light shows warm dust and is shown in red. The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 8-micron image to better highlight the dust structures. Note: The size of the Full-Res TIFF for the still image is 14772 samples x 4953 lines. |
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