Cigar Galaxy, M82
A composite image of the Cigar Galaxy (also called M82), a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The magnetic field detected by the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-Plus instrument (known as HAWC+) on SOFIA (the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), shown as streamlines, appears to follow the bipolar outflows (red) generated by the intense nuclear starburst. The image combines visible starlight (gray) and a tracing of hydrogen gas (red) observed from the Kitt Peak Observatory, with near-infrared and mid-infrared starlight and dust (yellow) observed by SOFIA and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Size: 3802px × 2700px
Location:
Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: cigar, composite, field, galactic, galaxies, galaxy, infrared, m82, magnetic, polarity, space, star, starburst, streamlines, universe
