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"A Swift Tour of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)" short film.For complete transcript, click here. High resolution layered Photoshop TIFF containing both UV and Optical image layers. High resolution still of the Andromeda Galaxy as seen by the Swift satellite in UV light. High resolution still of the Andromeda Galaxy in optical light. High resolution wide angle image of the Andromeda Galaxy in optical light. NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of the neighboring spiral galaxy M31. Also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, M31 is the largest and closest such galaxy to our own. It's more than 220,000 light-years across and lies 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. Between May 25 and July 26, 2008, Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) acquired 330 images of M31 at wavelengths of 192.8, 224.6, and 260 nanometers. The images represent a total exposure time of 24 hours. Some 20,000 ultraviolet sources are visible in the image, including M32, a small galaxy in orbit around M31. Dense clusters of hot, young, blue stars sparkle in the disk beyond the galaxy's smooth, redder central bulge. Star clusters are especially plentiful along a ring about 150,000 light-years across. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/uv_andromeda.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/uv_andromeda.html) Related pages