M82
(Image and Text Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/PSU/CMU)
M82, at a distance of 11 million light
years from Earth, is the nearest
starburst galaxy. Massive stars are
forming and expiring in M82 at a rate
ten times higher than in our galaxy.
The bright spots in the center are
supernova remnants and X-ray
binaries. These are some of the
brightest such objects known. The
luminosity of the X-ray binaries
suggests that most contain a black
hole. The diffuse X-ray light in the
image extends over several
thousand light years, and is caused
by multimillion degree gas flowing
out of M82. A close encounter with
a large galaxy, M81, in the last 100 million years is thought to be the cause of the
starburst activity.
Chandra X-ray Observatory
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Last modified: Thursday, 26-Jun-2003 13:48:46 EDT
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