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Galex m31 Litho

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is a prominent spiral galaxy located 2.5 million light years away, notable for its size and mass relative to the Milky Way. The GALEX Space Telescope has provided valuable ultraviolet imaging that enhances our understanding of star formation within M31, revealing patterns of recent star activity. The mission, led by Caltech and supported by international partners, aims to study galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history.

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52 views2 pages

Galex m31 Litho

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is a prominent spiral galaxy located 2.5 million light years away, notable for its size and mass relative to the Milky Way. The GALEX Space Telescope has provided valuable ultraviolet imaging that enhances our understanding of star formation within M31, revealing patterns of recent star activity. The mission, led by Caltech and supported by international partners, aims to study galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history.

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fekadu
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

www.nasa.gov
Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, dominates an extent of M31’s disk, making it possible for
exclusive group of objects outside our own galaxy astronomers to begin to understand the local
that are visible to the unaided eye. Under dark skies, physical conditions that promote or inhibit star
M31 can be seen as a cloudy patch of light, formation. UV imaging is particularly well suited
although even small telescopes reveal its substruc- for studying regions with infrequent (but ongoing)
ture in the form of a central bulge and spiral disk. star formation, such as the outermost part of the
galactic disk.
The Andromeda Galaxy and Milky Way are the
largest, most massive galaxies in the “Local A Different View of the Universe
Group.” Oddly, M31 seems to contain less mass
than the Milky Way, even though its disk is more The Galaxy Evolution
than double the diameter of the Milky Way’s. Explorer was
Because it lies only 2.5 million light years away, launched on April 28,
M31 is an extremely well-studied spiral galaxy, 2003. Its mission is to
giving us a detailed, external perspective of a study the shape,
galaxy similar to our own. However, much remains brightness, size and
to be learned. distance of galaxies
across 10 billion
Revealing How Stars Form years of cosmic his-
tory. The Explorer's
GALEX Space Telescope images of the Andromeda 50-centimeter-diameter (19.7-inch) telescope
Galaxy in the ultraviolet (UV) portion of the sweeps the skies in search of ultraviolet-light
spectrum have provided new insight into the star sources.
formation process ultimately driving galaxy
evolution. UV imaging traces primarily emission Caltech leads the Galaxy Evolution Explorer
from the atmospheres of hot stars, most of which mission and is responsible for science operations
were formed in the past few hundred million years. and data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion
The GALEX data vividly reveal the global pattern Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the
of “recent” star formation within M31, enhancing mission and built the science instrument. The
the contrast of these features by excluding the light mission was developed under NASA's Explorers
originating from ordinary, cooler stars. Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. South Korea and
Though large-scale spiral arms dominate the France are the international partners in the mission.
GALEX image of the Andromeda Galaxy, it is the
fine resolution and sensitivity of the UV data that For more GALEX images and information, visit
make it especially scientifically valuable. GALEX http://www.galex.caltech.edu.
resolves small associations of young, massive stars
(and even luminous individual stars) over the entire

www.nasa.gov

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