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Credit:
Astro 2, UIT,
NASA
Explanation:
This giant spiral galaxy,
Messier 101 (M101), was photographed by the
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT).
UIT flew into orbit as part of
the Astro 2 mission
on-board the Space Shuttle Endeavour in March 1995.
The image has been processed
so that the colors (purple to white) represent an increasing intensity of
ultraviolet light.
Pictures of galaxies like this one show mainly
clouds of gas containing newly formed stars many times more massive
than the sun, which glow strongly in ultraviolet light.
In contrast,
visible light pictures of galaxies tend to be dominated by the yellow
and red light of older stars.
Ultraviolet light,
invisible to the human eye, is blocked by
ozone in the atmosphere so ultraviolet pictures of
celestial objects must be taken from space.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: M101 - ultraviolet
Publications with words: M101 - ultraviolet
See also: