Rosat image of the Andromeda galaxy in the X-ray light.

As most galaxies, M31 has many star systems spewing high energy radiation. High energy X-radiation is visible only to certain satellites above planetary (i.e., Earth's) atmosphere such as ROSAT. The X-ray sources in M31 occur in globular clusters, the spiral arms, and near the galaxy's center. Probably most of these sources are accretion disk binary star systems. M31 has more X-ray sources near its center than our Galaxy, and the reason for this is currently unknown.

Newer X-ray observations of M31, by Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO)

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Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: July 2, 1999