Wide-field View: Galaxy M82 & Companions | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Wide-field View: Galaxy M82 & Companions | Digitized Sky Survey 2

This is a Digitized Sky Survey 2 of the spiral galaxy M81 and its neighbor galaxy M82. A few tens of million years ago, the smaller M82 collided with M81. This gravitational interaction deformed M82 and caused its concentrated burst of star formation.

The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: ESA/Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2
Acknowledgements: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
Release Date: April 24, 2006

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