WISE

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

Observation • May 25th, 2011

M81 is another grand design spiral galaxy, with pronounced arms spiraling into its core. WISE highlights areas where gas and dust have been compressed in the arms, leading to the formation of new stars. This compression has been enhanced by the galaxy's interaction with its partner galaxy, Messier 82 (not pictured here). That galaxy is bursting with new stars, and is therefore known as a "starburst." M81 is 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, and 94,000 light-years across.