|
|
Browse All
:
Images of M106 and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
|
Printer Friendly |
Anomalous Arms
| Title |
Anomalous Arms |
| Description |
In this composite image of spiral galaxy M106 (NGC 4258), optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey is shown as yellow, radio data from the Very Large Array appears as purple, X-ray data from Chandra is coded blue, and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope appears red. Two anomalous arms, which aren't visible at optical wavelengths, appear as purple and blue emission. |
|
NGC 4258 (M106): Mysterious
…
| Name |
NGC 4258 (M106): Mysterious Arms Revealed |
| Category |
Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies, Quasars & Active Galaxies |
| Release Date |
April 10, 2007 |
|
The Arms of NGC 4258
| Title |
The Arms of NGC 4258 |
| Explanation |
Better known as M106 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050730.html ], bright spiral galaxy NGC 4258 is about 30 thousand light years across and 21 million light years away toward the northern constellation Canes Venatici [ http://hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cvn/index.html ]. The yellow and red hues in this composite image [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/ngc4258/ ] show the galaxy's sweeping spiral arms [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxies ] as seen in visible and infrared light. But x-ray [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/medxray.html ] and radio data [ http://www.nrao.edu/whatisra/index.shtml ] (blue and purple) reveal two extra spiral arms -- arms that don't align with the more familiar tracers of stars, gas, and dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070328.html ]. In fact, an analysis [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0106514 ] of the x-ray [ http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0701569 ] and radio data suggests that the anamolous arms are composed of material heated by shock waves. Detected at radio wavelengths, powerful [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030705.html ] jets originating in the galaxy's core likely drive the shocks into the disk of NGC 4258. |
|
|
