March 15, 1998
Your birthday coincides with the eternal dance of celestial bodies — planets tracing their ancient orbits, moons rising and setting, comets...
Unusual M82: The Cigar Galaxy
Birthday · March 15, 1998
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APOD published March 15, 1998. Credit: P. Challis (CfA), 1.2-m Telescope, Whipple Observatory. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Something strange happened to this galaxy, but what? M82 is a nearby galaxy in the group of galaxies dominated by itself, M81, and NGC 3077. M82 is thought by some to be limping away from a close encounter with M81. This galactic collision might have stirred up the inner stars and gas in M82, causing the unusual dark lanes of dust visible in the above photograph. M82 is a starburst galaxy with a very active center containing star clusters far brighter than any in our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Image credit: P. Challis (CfA), 1.2-m Telescope, Whipple Observatory