Chandra Release - April 23, 2014

Visual Description: Astro Pro-Am

The images in this quartet of galaxies represent a sample of composites created with X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and optical data collected by an amateur astronomer. In these images, X-rays from Chandra are colored in purple, infrared emission from Spitzer is in red, and the optical data are in red, green, and blue.  Starting in the upper left and moving clockwise, the galaxies are M101 (the "Pinwheel Galaxy"), M81, Centaurus A, and M51 (the "Whirlpool Galaxy"). M101 is a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way, but about 70% bigger. It is located about 21 million light years from Earth. M81 is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light years away that is both relatively large in the sky and bright. Centaurus A is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky and is famous for the dust lane across its middle and a giant jet blasting away from the supermassive black hole at its center. Finally, M51 is another spiral galaxy, about 30 million light years away, that is in the process of merging with a smaller galaxy seen to its upper left.  The colors in the four images are predominantly shades of soft pink, red and blue, and deep purple, like a pale sunrise.  The overall form of the 3 spiral galaxies resemble rotating disks, with spiral arms branching out from the centers.