- Original Caption Released with Image:
-
The tangled arms of the Pinwheel galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 101,
are decked out in red in this new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope.
The Pinwheel galaxy is located 27 million light-years away in the
constellation Ursa Major. It is what's called a flocculent spiral, which
means that its spiral arms are not well defined.
The red color shows the dust, while the blue glow around the galaxy is
from starlight.
In this infrared composite, blue indicates light with a wavelength of 3.6
microns, green corresponds to 4.5 microns, and red to 5.8 and 8.0 microns.
The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been
subtracted from the 5.8- and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of
the dust features.
- Image Credit:
-
NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI
Image Addition Date:
-
2008-07-21
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