Andromeda in ultraviolet
6 Feb 2012
In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, the Swift satellite acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighbouring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet.
(JPG, 1.4 Mb)
High-resolution ultraviolet image of M31 galaxy pictured by Swift.
Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler (GSFC) and Erin Grand (UMCP)
The galaxy pictured, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own. The Andromeda galaxy is larger than our Milky Way and contains more stars. Both galaxies belong to our so-called Local Group, a collection of more than 50 galaxies, most of which are tiny dwarf systems.
This mosaic of M31 merges 330 individual images taken by Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT). The image shows a region 200,000 light-years wide and 100,000 light-years high (100 arcminutes by 50 arcminutes).
Swift is usually used to study gamma ray bursts minutes after they occur. They are thought to occur either when a massive star ends its life or when two dense neutron stars collide. Some of them are among the most distant objects in the Universe but their brightness allows scientists to study the conditions of the early Universe.
Swift uses three telescopes: BAT (Burst Alert Telescope), XRT (X-ray Telescope and UVOT. UVOT is a 30cm telescope and includes filters so that it can measure the spectrum of the afterglow.
The Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, helped build Swift's UVOT. It also provides on going support for this instrument as well as on-call gamma ray burst scientists.
The University of Leicester hosts the UK Swift Science Data Centre, providing immediate access to Swift's data 24 hours a day. The University supplied key systems designs for the XRT and built the low temperature CCD focal plane camera and the TAM (Telescope Alignment Monitor). It continues to support these in orbit as well as providing on-call scientists to analyse gamma ray bursts when they occur.
More information about the UK involvement in Swift can be found on the mission pages of the website.
