February 1, 2010 - All Eyes on M51

Published in cooperation with The Planetary Society

Spend the year in space, one week at a time

Recent Weeks

September 6, 2010 - Southern Exposure

August 30, 2010 - NASA Drops the Axe

August 23, 2010 - Distant Spiral Splendor

August 16, 2010 - Sifting the Sands of Mars

August 9, 2010 - Rush Hour at the Red Planet

August 2, 2010 - Shining a Light on Dark Matter

July 26, 2010 - Return to Flight

July 19, 2010 - Depth Perception

July 12, 2010 - United Nations

July 5, 2010 - Crowded House

June 28, 2010 - Fourth of July Blast

June 21, 2010 - Another Handshake in Space

June 14, 2010 - Mother Nature’s Particle Accelerators

June 7, 2010 - Radio Rings

May 31, 2010 - Watch That First Step

May 24, 2010 - THEMIS of Arabia

May 17, 2010 - Sprucing up the Station

May 10, 2010 - Liberating Star Stuff

May 3, 2010 - An Arm by Any Other Name

April 26, 2010 - Tectonic Feast

April 19, 2010 - Two Decades of Discovery

April 12, 2010 - Long Stay for Sergei

April 5, 2010 - View From The Far Side

March 29, 2010 - Triple-Teaming a Black Hole

March 22, 2010 - Final Resting Place

March 15, 2010 - Lost In The Glare

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144 full-color pages
6" x 9", spiral bound
Art-quality paper

Weekly photo essay
Daily Moon phases
Night sky events
Space trivia
Holidays
Room for notes/appts

The Week in Space

February 1-7, 2010

All Eyes on M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51, is a classic example of a spiral galaxy. Thirty million light-years away, it is also one of the brightest spirals in the night sky. This composite image shows the majesty of its structure in a dramatic new way through several of NASA’s orbiting observatories. X-ray data from the Chandra Observatory reveals point-like sources (purple) that are black holes and neutron stars in binary star systems, and the glow of hot gas that permeates the space between the stars. Optical data from the Hubble (green) and infrared emission from the Spitzer (red) Space Telescopes both highlight long lanes in the spiral arms consisting of stars and gas laced with dust. The GALEX telescope shows hot young stars that produce great amounts of ultraviolet energy (blue).

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Wesleyan Univ./R.Kilgard et al; UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith & Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Univ. of AZ/R. Kennicutt