Andromeda, the Galaxy Next Door

Galex_glx2008-01f_img01_1024

galex_glx2008-01f_img01 February 21st, 2008

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

At approximately 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy, or M31, is our Milky Way's largest galactic neighbor. The entire galaxy spans 260,000 light-years across -- a distance so large, it took 10 GALEX images stitched together to produce this view of the galaxy next door.

The wisps of blue making up the galaxy's spiral arms are neighborhoods that harbor hot, young, massive stars. Meanwhile, the central orange-white ball reveals a congregation of cooler, old stars that formed long ago.

Andromeda is so bright and close by that it is one of only three galaxies that can be spotted from Earth with the naked eye. This view is two-color composite, where blue represents far-ultraviolet light, and red is near-ultraviolet light.

Provider: Galaxy Evolution Explorer

Image Source: /image/galex/glx2008-01f_img01

Curator: Galaxy Evolution Explorer

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Andromeda Galaxy • M31
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
2,500,000 light years

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue GALEX (FUV) Ultraviolet (Far-UV) 150.0 nm
Yellow GALEX (NUV) Ultraviolet (Near-UV) 230.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Yellow
Galex_glx2008-01f_img01_1280
×
ID
glx2008-01f_img01
Subject Category
C.5.1.1.  
Subject Name
Andromeda Galaxy, M31
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2008-02-21
Lightyears
2,500,000
Redshift
2,500,000
Reference Url
/image/galex/glx2008-01f_img01
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
GALEX, GALEX
Instrument
FUV, NUV
Color Assignment
Blue, Yellow
Band
Ultraviolet, Ultraviolet
Bandpass
Far-UV, Near-UV
Central Wavelength
150, 230
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Galaxy Evolution Explorer
URL
http://www.galex.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
City
State/Province
Postal Code
Country
Rights
Publisher
Galaxy Evolution Explorer
Publisher ID
galex
Resource ID
Resource URL
/image/galex/glx2008-01f_img01
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2023-04-12T00:49:37Z
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
2,500,000 light years

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NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA’s Science Activation program, which strives to further enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively and efficiently with learners of all ages.