What's lighting up the Cigar Galaxy? M82 , as this irregular galaxy is also known, was stirred up by a recent pass near large spiral galaxy M81 . This doesn't fully explain the source of the red-glowing outwardly expanding gas , however. Evidence indicates that this gas is being driven out by the combined emerging particle winds of many stars, together creating a galactic superwind . The featured photographic mosaic highlights a specific color of red light strongly emitted by ionized hydrogen gas, showing detailed filaments of this gas. The filaments extend for over 10,000 light year s. The 12-million light-year distant Cigar Galaxy is the brightest galaxy in the sky in infrared light, and can be seen in visible light with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Great Bear ( Ursa Major ).
Media Credits & Attribution
Image Credit: NASA , ESA , The Hubble Heritage Team, ( STScI / AURA ) Acknowledgement: M. Mountain ( STScI ), P. Puxley ( NSF ), J. Gallagher ( U. Wisconsin )