July 28, 1995
The atoms in your body have known many forms: star core, drifting dust, ocean mineral, living cell.
M82: An Irregular Galaxy
Birthday · July 28, 1995
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APOD published July 28, 1995. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
July 28, 1995 M82: An Irregular Galaxy Credit: The Electronic Universe Project Explanation: Not all galaxies have spiral structure like our Milky Way. Many have smooth elliptical shapes, but also many have irregular shapes such as the bright sky object M82, the 82nd object on Messier's list. The strange structure of this galaxy is thought to be caused by young stars ejecting gas in energetic bubbles, and by lanes of absorbing dust. For more information on M82 see The Electronic Universe Project's write-up. Many images of Messier objects can be found in The Electronic Universe Project's The Galaxy Gallery: Messier Objects.