M82



         


The Cigar Galaxy (also known as Irregular Galaxy M82, Messier Object 82, Messier 82, M82, or NGC 3034) is a starburst galaxy in the Ursa Major constellation.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory detected fluctuating X-ray emissions from the sector, appoximately 600 light-years away from the centre of the messier object — around 12 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers have postulated that M82 would contain the first known mid-mass black hole, of roughly 500 solar masses.

Many speculate that the Cigar galaxy, classified as Irr-II (Irregular galaxy type II - no organization whatsoever), is actually a barred spiral galaxy seen edge on, with gravitational distortions and massive dust lanes, presenting an irregular morphology to us.

[Top]

Related topics

[Top]




  View Live Article   This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License