The nearby interacting starburst galaxy Messier 82 in an image through a narrow-band filter including H-alpha emission. The ionized-gas filaments extending along the galaxy's minor axis trace a large-scale wind powered by the starburst. The image was taken with a TI CCD at the Lowell 1.1m telescope.
Here, M82 is shown in a slightly odd color-composite CCD image. The red filter was a narrow-band one that passed H-alpha emission from the galaxy, highlighting the outflow of ionized gas driven by the starburst which has raged through much of M82 but most strongly in the central regions.
This color-composite CCD image is a slower-contrast one, highlighting the inner regions of M82.
Credit: Bill Keel, University of Alabama
Last Modification: September 23, 2002