Universe ID: 30990

Andromeda Galaxy in Visible and Infrared

Released on September 10, 2018

Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, around 2.5 million light-years away. Once thought to be a twin of our galaxy, its different structure is very evident in infrared light. While it is a spiral galaxy, its dust falls largely in a huge ring structure, possibly caused by gravitational interactions with its smaller satellite galaxies.

Optical: This is the classic visible view of the Andromeda Galaxy
Infrared: Andromeda's dust ring stands out in the infrared

Credits

Greg Bacon (STScI): Visualizer
Karl Gordon (The University of Arizona): Image Processing
Leann Johnson (GST): Technical Support

Please give credit for this item to:
Video: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Image Credits:

Optical: NOAO, AURA/NSF
Infrared: NASA, JPL-Caltech, K. Gordon (University of Arizona)

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30990

Mission:
Spitzer Space Telescope

Data Used:
National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)
Spitzer Space Telescope
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
SVS >> Dust
SVS >> Galaxy
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Infrared
SVS >> Milky Way
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Universe