by APOD Robot » Fri Jan 22, 2016 5:12 am
21st Century M101
Explanation: One of the last entries in
Charles Messier's famous catalog, big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is definitely not
one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across,
this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed with Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the
Leviathan of Parsontown. In contrast,
this multiwavelength view of the large
island universe is a composite of images recorded by space-based telescopes in the 21st century. Color coded from X-rays to infrared
wavelengths (high to low energies), the image data was taken from the
Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple), the
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (blue),
Hubble Space Telescope (yellow), and the
Spitzer Space Telescope (red). While the X-ray data trace the location of multimillion degree gas around M101's exploded stars and neutron star and black hole binary star systems, the lower energy data follow the stars and dust that define M101's grand spiral arms. Also known as the
Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation
Ursa Major, about 25 million light-years away.
(Editor's Note: Original APOD retracted on January 25.)
[/b]
[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160122.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_160122.jpg[/img] [size=150]21st Century M101[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] One of the last entries in [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000311.html]Charles Messier's[/url] famous catalog, big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is definitely not [url=http://messier.seds.org/m/m102d.html]one[/url] of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, [url=http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/10/]this galaxy[/url] is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. [url=http://messier.seds.org/more/m101_rosse.html]M101 was also[/url] one of the original spiral nebulae observed with Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the [url=http://labbey.com/Telescopes/Parsontown.html]Leviathan of Parsontown[/url]. In contrast, [url=http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5163-sig12-005-A-Pinwheel-Galaxy-Rainbow]this multiwavelength view[/url] of the large [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080124.html]island universe[/url] is a composite of images recorded by space-based telescopes in the 21st century. Color coded from X-rays to infrared [url=http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/multiwavelength_astronomy/multiwavelength_astronomy/index.html]wavelengths[/url] (high to low energies), the image data was taken from the [url=http://chandra.si.edu/about/axaf_mission.html]Chandra X-ray Observatory[/url] (purple), the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120518.html]Galaxy Evolution Explorer[/url] (blue), [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101013.html]Hubble Space Telescope[/url] (yellow), and the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100410.html]Spitzer Space Telescope[/url] (red). While the X-ray data trace the location of multimillion degree gas around M101's exploded stars and neutron star and black hole binary star systems, the lower energy data follow the stars and dust that define M101's grand spiral arms. Also known as the [url=http://messier.seds.org/m/m101.html]Pinwheel Galaxy, M101[/url] lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060317.html]Ursa Major[/url], about 25 million light-years away.
[b]([i]Editor's Note:[/i] Original APOD retracted on January 25.)[/b]
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