Messier 81 in Multiple Wavelengths

  • Released Monday, August 20, 2018
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Star-forming regions in M81 become evident in infrared.

Messier 81 (M81) is a classic example of a spiral galaxy. Star-forming regions in this galaxy become evident in the infrared view. In the infrared, the spiral arm structure becomes much more powerful relative to the visibly bright galactic center, revealing denser concentrations of cold dust and gas ready to be transformed into new stars.


Optical: Stars are partly obscured by dust.

Near-Infrared: Longer infrared wavelengths now show star-forming areas in red.

Far-Infrared: Shifting to infrared light reveals the dust lanes in red.

This animation is the same as above, played twice as fast.

NOAO optical image of Messier 81 Stars are partly obscured by dust.

NOAO optical image of Messier 81

Stars are partly obscured by dust.

Spitzer Near-Infrared image of Messier 81 Longer infrared wavelengths now show star-forming areas in red.

Spitzer Near-Infrared image of Messier 81

Longer infrared wavelengths now show star-forming areas in red.

Spitzer Far-Infrared image of Messier 81 Shifting to infrared light reveals the dust lanes in red.

Spitzer Far-Infrared image of Messier 81

Shifting to infrared light reveals the dust lanes in red.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:

Video: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

Image Credits:

  • Optical: N.A. Sharp (NOAO, AURA, NSF)
  • Near-infrared: NASA, JPL-Caltech, S. Willner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
  • Far-infrared: NASA, JPL-Caltech, K. Gordon (University of Arizona) and S. Willner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

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Datasets used

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This page was originally published on Monday, August 20, 2018.
This page was last updated on Monday, March 10, 2025 at 12:25 AM EDT.