Chandra Release - May 24, 2012

Visual Description: M101

This composite image shows a spiral galaxy named M101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. The image captures the galaxy's intricate structure, particularly the bright pinwheel shape, hence its nickname. The overall colors of the image are predominantly blue, yellow, purple and red centered on a black background. This image of the Pinwheel combines data in the infrared, visible, ultraviolet and X-rays from four of NASA's space-based telescopes. This multi-wavelength view shows that both young and old stars are evenly distributed along M101's tightly-wound spiral arms. The hottest and most energetic areas in this composite image are colored in purple, where the Chandra X-ray Observatory observed the X-ray emission from exploded stars, million-degree gas, and material colliding around black holes. Red colors in the image, mostly towards the center, show infrared light as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope. These areas show the heat emitted by dusty lanes in the galaxy, where stars are forming. The yellow component is visible light, observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Most of this light comes from stars, and they trace the same spiral structure as the dust lanes seen in the infrared.  The blue areas stretching out towards the edge of the image are ultraviolet light, given out by hot, young stars that formed about 1 million years ago, captured by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX).