The evolving universe A universe of galaxies
center of the Milky way
Distance from Earth: Size:
26,000 light years 240 light years
Telescope:
Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer
Light:
X-ray, Near Infrared and Infrared
Light from the center of our galaxy takes 26,000 years to reach Earth. When the light we observe now left the center of the Milky Way, our human ancestors were beginning to weave plant fibers to make cords and baskets.
Large Magellanic Cloud The Milky Way Galaxy belongs to a cluster of about 30 galaxies called the Local Group. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are the two largest members of this group. The other members of the Local Group are Distance from Earth: Telescope: Light:
much smaller galaxies. Many are satellites of either the Milky Way or Andromeda galaxies. At 160,000 light years away from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the first stops on a trip outside our own galaxy. 160,000 light years Spitzer Infrared
Tarantula Nebula NGC 2070 Distance from Earth: Size: Telescope: Light:
The Tarantula Nebula, a star formation region 50 times larger than the Orion Nebula, is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud - one of the Milky Way’s nearest galactic
160,000 light years 650 light years Magellan Infrared
neighbours.This image reveals that star formation in other galaxies happens in the same way it does in our own.
Andromeda Galaxy M31
Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman alSufi made the earliest recorded observation of the Andromeda Galaxy in 964 ce. Along with our Milky Way, this galaxy belongs to a group of galaxies known as the Local Group. Andromeda contains over one trillion stars - about three times the Milky Way’s 200-400 billion
stars. But watch out! Astronomers predict that the two galaxies could collide several billion years from now.
Distance from Earth: Size: Telescope: Light:
2.5 million light years 260,000 light years Spitzer/IRAC Infrared
The center of the Triangulum galaxy is filled with older, yellow, long-burning stars. Younger, blue, fastburning stars populate the spiral arms, creating waves of star formation that ripple
around the central disk. Astronomers see the same processes and life cycles of stars in these nearby galaxies that they see in our own.
Distance from Earth:
When the light we observe now left the Triangulum Galaxy, early humans walked upright but did not yet use stone tools.
3 million light years
Size:
50,000 light years
Telescope:
MMT/Megacam
Light:
Visible
Triangulum Galaxy M33
Galaxy M82 Distance from Earth: Size: Telescope: Light:
Star formation has gone wild in the central region of M82. Massive young stars race through their evolution to explode as supernovae. Galaxy M82 averages a supernova every 10 years - many more than
11 million light years 370,000 light years Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer X-ray, Infrared, Visible
a typical galaxy. These explosions eject newly formed carbon and oxygen in the form of cold and hot gas from the galaxy at millions of kilometers per hour.
NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy One of the most luminous and massive galaxies known, Centaurus A is a strong source of both radio and X-ray radiation. The supermassive black hole at its center is highly active, ejecting
Distance from Earth: Size:
13,000-light-year-long jets of superheated gas and cooler matter from the disk of the galaxy. The material in the jets travels about 9 million kilometers per minute half the speed of light.
12 million light years 260,000 light years
Chandra/APEX/ ESO-2.2 Light: X-ray, Infrared-Radio, Visible
Telescope:
The Antennae Glaxies are actually two colliding galaxies, among the youngest pairs astronomers have observed. The two spiral galaxies started to interact a few hundred million years ago. This collision sparked star formation in both galaxies. The bright yellow areas to Distance from Earth: Size:
the left and right of the bright red center are the cores of the original galaxies. The Antennae system may be a preview of how our Milky Way Galaxy and the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy could collide in several billion years.
43 million light years 61,000 light years
Chandra/Hubble/ Spitzer Light: X-ray, Radio, Visible
Telescope:
The Antennae NGC 4038/NGC 4039
Virgo A Galaxy M87 Distance from Earth: Size: Telescope: Light:
Virgo A is the largest, heaviest galaxy in the Virgo supercluster of galaxies. Our galaxy lies just inside the border of this supercluster. Bright jets, moving at close to the speed of light, shoot
55 million light years 200,000 light years Chandra/VLA/HST X-ray, Radio, Visible from the supermassive black hole at the center of Virgo A. Astronomers consider this galaxy a “monster�, with a total mass 200 times greater than that of the Milky Way.
Perseus A is home to an active supermassive black hole - one that is consuming and spewing massive amounts of matter at the galaxy’s center. Astronomers combine images taken by different types of telescopes to make visible the dynamics of these supermassive black holes. Large violet shells depicting high energy X-ray radiation surround pink lobes
from the low energy radio range in this image showing the internal violence at the heart of Perseus A.
Perseus A Galaxy NGC 1275
Distance from Earth: Size: Telescope: Light:
331 million light years 150,000 light years Chandra/Hubble/VLA X-ray, Radio, Visible
Galaxy NGC 6240 Two bright pinpoints of light in NGC 6240 show two supermassive black holes merging in the galaxy’s center. The black holes are only 3,000 light years apart and have been spiraling
Distance from Earth: Size: Telescope: Light:
toward each other for about 30 million years.
400 million light years 200,000 light years Chandra/Hubble X-ray, Visible
Light from the Bullet Cluster takes 3.3 billion years to reach Earth. When the light we observe now left the Bullet Cluster, Earth’s atmosphere contained no oxygen, and single-cell life was just forming.
Distance from Earth:
400 million light years
Size:
3 million light years
Telescope:
Chandra, Magellan
Light:
X-ray, Visible
Bullet Cluster 1E0657-56
Orion nebula