                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2023 October 7
    The featured image shows M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, in both infrared
      light, colored orange, and visible light, colored white and blue.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                   The Once and Future Stars of Andromeda
    Image Credit: NASA, NSF, NOAJ, Hubble, Subaru, Mayall, DSS, Spitzer;
           Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Russell Croman

   Explanation: This picture of Andromeda shows not only where stars are
   now, but where stars will be. The big, beautiful Andromeda Galaxy, M31,
   is a spiral galaxy a mere 2.5 million light-years away. Image data from
   space-based and ground-based observatories have been combined here to
   produce this intriguing composite view of Andromeda at wavelengths both
   inside and outside normally visible light. The visible light shows
   where M31's stars are now, highlighted in white and blue hues and
   imaged by the Hubble, Subaru, and Mayall telescopes. The infrared light
   shows where M31's future stars will soon form, highlighted in orange
   hues and imaged by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared light
   tracks enormous lanes of dust, warmed by stars, sweeping along
   Andromeda's spiral arms. This dust is a tracer of the galaxy's vast
   interstellar gas, raw material for future star formation. Of course,
   the new stars will likely form over the next hundred million years or
   so. That's well before Andromeda merges with our Milky Way Galaxy in
   about 5 billion years.

                   Tomorrow's picture: in front of the Sun
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

