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| Hubble data: NASA, ESA, and A. Zezas (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics); GALEX data: NASA, JPL-Caltech, GALEX Team, J. Huchra et al. (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics); Spitzer data: NASA/JPL/Caltech/S. Willner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) |
Multiwavelength M81
This beautiful galaxy is tilted at an oblique angle on to our line of sight, giving a "birds-eye view" of the spiral structure. The galaxy is similar to our Milky Way, but our favorable view provides a better picture of the typical architecture of spiral galaxies.
M81 may be undergoing a surge of star formation along the spiral arms due to a close encounter it may have had with its nearby spiral galaxy NGC 3077 and a nearby starburst galaxy (M82) about 300 million years ago.
M81 is one of the brightest galaxies that can be seen from the Earth. It is high in the northern sky in the circumpolar constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. At an apparent magnitude of 6.8 it is just at the limit of naked-eye visibility. The galaxy's angular size is about the same as that of the Full Moon.
This image combines data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) missions. The GALEX ultraviolet data were from the far-UV portion of the spectrum (135 to 175 nanometers). The Spitzer infrared data were taken with the IRAC 4 detector (8 microns). The Hubble data were taken at the blue portion of the spectrum.
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| About the Object (1) | | Object name: | M81, NGC 3031, Bode's Galaxy | | Object type: | Spiral Galaxy | | Position (J2000): | RA: 09h 55m 33.00s Dec: 69° 3' 55.00" | | Distance: | 11.6 million light-years (3.6 megaparsecs) | | Constellation: | Ursa Major |
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About the Data
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Spitzer Data
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| Image Credit: | NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Willner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) | | Instrument: | IRAC | | Wavelength: | 8 Microns | | Exposure Date: | November 6, 2003 | | Exposure Time: | 50 seconds per position | | Image scale: | This image is roughy 19 arcminutes (64,000 light-years or roughly 20 kiloparsecs) tall | | Orientation: | North is rotated 90 degrees clockwise from the vertical | | Release Date: | 2007/05/30 |
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Other Data
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| Image Credit: | Hubble data: NASA, ESA, and A. Zezas (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics); GALEX data: NASA, JPL-Caltech, GALEX Team, J. Huchra et al. (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) | | Instrument: | GALEX Far-UV, Hubble ACS/WFC | | Wavelength: | 135 to 175 nanometers; Hubble filter F435W (Blue) |
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Observers
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Karl D. Gordon, Principal Investigator (University of Arizona)
Steven P. Willner, Principal Investigator (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Almudena Alonso-Herroro (University of Arizona)
Philip Appleton (SSC/Caltech)
Matthew L. N. Ashby (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Pauline Barmby (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Chad Engelbracht (University of Arizona)
Giovanni G. Fazio (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
David Frayer (SSC/Caltech)
George Helou (SSC/Caltech)
Joannah Hinz (University of Arizona)
Robert Kennicutt (University of Arizona)
Karl Misselt (University of Arizona)
Michael A. Pahre (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Pablo Perez-Gonzalez (University of Arizona)
George Rieke (University of Arizona)
Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona)
Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech)
Lisa Storrie-Lombardi (SSC/Caltech)
A. Zezas, G. Fabbiano, A. Prestwich, and M. Garcia (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin, Madison), J. Miller (University of Michigan), P. Kaaret (University of Iowa), V. Kalogera (Northwestern University), M. Ward (University of Durham), and A. King (University of Leicester); and proposal 10250: J. Huchra, P. Barmby, and B. Mcleod (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and J. Brodie and J. Strader (University of California, Santa Cruz). |
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