Today’s new press release from the Spitzer Space Telescope reveals an entirely new view of Messier Object 82, casually known as the Cigar Galaxy. Residing some 12 million light years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this irregular galaxy is a favorite target of observers and astrophotographers alike.

At top is the new false-color (infrared) image; a visible-light image is included below for comparison. There’s also a video available to further highlight the differences.

Michelle Thaller speaks with Dr. George Helou.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/C. Engelbracht (University of Arizona)

From the press release:

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire — even in outer space. A new infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows a burning hot galaxy whose fiery stars appear to be blowing out giant billows of smoky dust.

The galaxy, called Messier 82, or the “Cigar galaxy,” was previously known to host a hotbed of young, massive stars. The new Spitzer image reveals, for the first time, the “smoke” surrounding those stellar fires.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Dr. Charles Engelbracht of the University of Arizona, Tucson. “This unusual galaxy has ejected an enormous amount of dust to cover itself with a cloud brighter than any we’ve seen around other galaxies.”

The false-colored view shows the irregular-shaped galaxy positioned on its side, as a diffuse bar of blue light. Fanning out from its top and bottom like the wings of a butterfly are huge red clouds of dust believed to contain a compound similar to car exhaust.

The smelly material, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, can be found on Earth in tailpipes, barbecue pits and other places where combustion reactions have occurred. In galaxies, the stuff is created by stars, whose winds and radiation blow the material out into space.

“Usually you see smoke before a fire, but we knew about the fire in this galaxy before Spitzer’s infrared eyes saw the smoke,” said Dr. David Leisawitz, Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

These hazy clouds are some of the biggest ever seen around a galaxy. They stretch out 20,000 light-years away from the galactic plane in both directions, far beyond where stars are found.

Image Credit: NOAO