Multi-Wavelength viewer
Wednesday, 06-Nov-2024 04:27:11 GMT
M82 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. At a
distance of 12 million light years, M82 is the nearest example of a class of galaxies
known as "starbursts" because of they form stars at a higher rate than
normal galaxies like our own Milky Way. Because of its shape when viewed
through a small telescope it is also known as the Cigar galaxy.
This image is from the 2-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), a survey of the entire sky carried out at a wavelength of 2 microns which is in the near infra-red part of the electromagnetic spectrum.