A starburst shines in infrared
We aren’t blowing smoke, M82 is working overtime forming new stars!
This galaxy, called Messier 82 (M82) or the Cigar Galaxy, is smaller than our Milky Way, but 5x as luminous and forms stars 10x faster! Its fast rate of star formation classifies M82 as a starburst galaxy. In visible-light images of the galaxy, the hotbed of star formation at the center is obscured by dust and clouds, but with Webb’s NIRCam, we can see through the dust into the full brilliance of the galactic center.
Why is this galaxy forming so many stars? M82 has a larger spiral as a galactic neighbor. The galaxies have likely been interacting gravitationally, sending gas into M82’s center, providing raw material for new stars to form. M82 is home to more than 100 super star clusters, which each contain hundreds of thousands of stars, and are more massive and more luminous than typical star clusters.
Read more: esawebb.org/images/potm2506a/
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Bolatto
Image description: An image of the central part of galaxy M82. The galaxy’s disc extends from the top to the bottom of the image, emitting a blue-white glow. Gas erupts from the brightly shining centre, forming an hourglass-shaped plume of red and orange dust clouds to the left and right. Ridges and cavities in the gas are visible in great detail. Many distant galaxies can be seen in the background, as well as tiny pinprick stars in M82. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Bolatto
A starburst shines in infrared
We aren’t blowing smoke, M82 is working overtime forming new stars!
This galaxy, called Messier 82 (M82) or the Cigar Galaxy, is smaller than our Milky Way, but 5x as luminous and forms stars 10x faster! Its fast rate of star formation classifies M82 as a starburst galaxy. In visible-light images of the galaxy, the hotbed of star formation at the center is obscured by dust and clouds, but with Webb’s NIRCam, we can see through the dust into the full brilliance of the galactic center.
Why is this galaxy forming so many stars? M82 has a larger spiral as a galactic neighbor. The galaxies have likely been interacting gravitationally, sending gas into M82’s center, providing raw material for new stars to form. M82 is home to more than 100 super star clusters, which each contain hundreds of thousands of stars, and are more massive and more luminous than typical star clusters.
Read more: esawebb.org/images/potm2506a/
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Bolatto
Image description: An image of the central part of galaxy M82. The galaxy’s disc extends from the top to the bottom of the image, emitting a blue-white glow. Gas erupts from the brightly shining centre, forming an hourglass-shaped plume of red and orange dust clouds to the left and right. Ridges and cavities in the gas are visible in great detail. Many distant galaxies can be seen in the background, as well as tiny pinprick stars in M82. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Bolatto