New ESA Herschel photo of the Andromeda galaxy in amazing detail

Very nice images ..

Nothing is beautiful as this images of universe ..

Andromeda Galaxy - M31

ESA

28 January 2013

www.esa.int...

photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...

photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...

In this new view of the Andromeda galaxy from ESA’s Herschel space observatory, cool lanes of forming stars are revealed in the finest detail yet. Andromeda, also known as M31, is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way at a distance of 2.5 million light-years, making it an ideal natural laboratory to study star formation and galaxy evolution.

Sensitive to the far-infrared light from cool dust mixed in with gas, Herschel seeks out clouds of gas where stars are born. The new image reveals some of the very coldest dust in the galaxy – only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero – coloured red in this image.

Andromeda's coat of many colors
ESA Dec 13, 2012

ESA's fleet of space telescopes has captured the nearby Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, in different wavelengths. Most of these wavelengths are invisible to the eye and each shows a different aspect of the galaxy's nature. Visible light, as seen by optical ground-based telescopes and our eyes, reveals the various stars that shine in the Andromeda Galaxy, yet it is just one small part of the full spectrum of electromagnetic radiation.

There are many different wavelengths that are invisible to us but which are revealed by ESA's orbiting telescopes. Starting at the long wavelength end, the Planck spacecraft collects microwaves. These show up particles of incredibly cold dust, at just a few tens of degrees above absolute zero.

Slightly higher temperature dust is revealed by the shorter, infrared wavelengths observed by the Herschel space telescope. This dust traces locations in the spiral arms of the Andromeda Galaxy where new stars are being born today.

reply to post by MariaLida


These pictures look nice, but why do they look really REALLY fake to me??

Great find either way....

Nice eye

The pictures give the sense of energy moving outwards due to centrifugal forces.

Andromeda Galaxy is now 2.5 million light-years away also moving toward the Milky Way at about 250,000 miles per hour ..

This two galaxies attract each other and according to scientist and some simulations collision will be in 4 billion years ..

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral also biggest galaxy to our Milky Way, but not the closest galaxy overall ..



NASA's Hubble Shows Milky Way is Destined for Head-On Collision

www.nasa.gov...

science.nasa.gov...

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by MariaLida

 

These pictures look nice, but why do they look really REALLY fake to me??

Great find either way....

Because they are false-colour images to highlight differences in the temperature of the dust/gas.

Originally posted by PheonixReborn

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by MariaLida

 

These pictures look nice, but why do they look really REALLY fake to me??

Great find either way....

Because they are false-colour images to highlight differences in the temperature of the dust/gas.

Exactly.

This is NOT what a person would see if they were "out there" looking at this galaxy. Much of what you see in that image is in the microwave and far-infrared wavelengths -- wavelengths that would be invisible to our eyes. And, as 'PhoenixReborn' pointed out, the colors assigned to those invisible wavelengths in that image are false colors.


This image (below) is what you would see with your eyes if you were "out there" looking at the Andromeda galaxy:

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Thanks for that image, I prefer that

It is just as incredible as any filter could make it.

I gasped when I seen the pictures, all of them are equally impressive in my opinion. Absolutly beautiful. Thank you for the pics!!

Originally posted by MariaLida
Andromeda Galaxy is now 2.5 million light-years away also moving toward the Milky Way at about 250,000 miles per hour ..

This two galaxies attract each other and according to scientist and some simulations collision will be in 4 billion years ..

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral also biggest galaxy to our Milky Way, but not the closest galaxy overall ..

NASA's Hubble Shows Milky Way is Destined for Head-On Collision

www.nasa.gov...

science.nasa.gov...

edit on 30-1-2013 by MariaLida because: (no reason given)

I wonder if the sun will burn out before then, or if we will get to see this whole thing unfold before our eyes.... That is if humanity is still on Earth at that time. I think the sun has about 4-5 billion years of life left in it, according to the video you posted the collision appears to happen around 3.8 billion years from now

What will be our fate (if we're still here)!

Based on current calculations they predict a 50% chance that in a merged galaxy the solar system will be swept out three times farther from the galactic core than it is currently located.[1] They also predict a 12% chance that the Solar System will be ejected from the new galaxy some time during the collision.

Wikipedia

...by the time that the two galaxies collide, the surface of the Earth will have already become far too hot for liquid water to exist, ending all terrestrial life, which is currently estimated to occur in about 1.4 billion years due to gradually increasing luminosity of the Sun

Wikipedia

Well I guess that settles that