Chandra Release - January 14, 2000

Visual Description: M82

The image is an X-ray image of a starburst galaxy named M82, which is located about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This galaxy is known for its intense star formation activity.  The image features a bright orange glow in the center of the galaxy, surrounded by darker areas. The bright spots in the center are supernova remnants and X-ray binaries. These are some of the brightest such objects known. The luminosity of the X-ray binaries suggests that most contain a black hole. The diffuse X-ray light in the image extends over several thousand light years, and is caused by multimillion degree gas flowing out of M82. A close encounter with a large galaxy, M81, in the last 100 million years is thought to be the cause of the starburst activity.   In comparison to familiar everyday objects, the X-ray image of M82 resembles a firework explosion, with the orange glow in the center representing bursts of light and energy.