Universe Today: Galaxy's Invisible Arms Revealed

[PureInsight.org] This image highlights the hidden spiral arms (blue) that were discovered around the nearby galaxy NGC 4625 by the ultraviolet eyes of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.

The image is composed of ultraviolet and visible-light data, from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the California Institute of Technology's Digitized Sky Survey, respectively. Near-ultraviolet light is colored green; far-ultraviolet light is colored blue; and optical light is colored red.
As the image demonstrates, the lengthy spiral arms are nearly invisible when viewed in optical light while bright in ultraviolet. This is because they are bustling with hot, newborn stars that radiate primarily ultraviolet light.

The youthful arms are also very long, stretching out to a distance four times the size of the galaxy's core. They are part of the largest ultraviolet galactic disk discovered so far.
Located 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, NGC 4625 is the closest galaxy ever seen with such a young halo of arms. It is slightly smaller than our Milky Way, both in size and mass. However, the fact that this galaxy's disk is forming stars very actively suggests that it might evolve into a more massive and mature galaxy resembling our own.

The armless companion galaxy seen below NGC 4625 is called NGC 4618. Astronomers do not know why it lacks arms but speculate that it may have triggered the development of arms in NGC 4625.

This new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows that a galaxy once thought to be rather plain and old is actually endowed with a gorgeous set of young spiral arms.

The unusual galaxy, called NGC 4625, is a remarkable find because it is relatively nearby. Until now, astronomers had thought that this kind of youthful glow in galaxies was a thing of the past.

"This galaxy is an amazing surprise," said Dr. Armando Gil de Paz of the Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, Calif., lead author of a paper appearing in the July issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters. "We are practically up-close and personal with a galaxy undergoing an evolutionary stage that was thought to occur only at the dawn of the universe, in very young and faraway galaxies."

The image offers astronomers their best look yet at what our Milky Way galaxy might have looked like in earlier times.

"We do not fully understand how stars were created in our galaxy," said Dr. Barry Madore of the Carnegie Observatories, co-author of the new paper. "This nearby galaxy represents one of our possible histories, in which stars developed first in the galaxy core and then later in the arms."

Previous visible-light images of NGC 4625 showed only an oval-shaped ball of light, with very faint hints of a halo of spiral arms. These arms were finally revealed to the ultraviolet eyes of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Their intense brightness indicates that the arms are teeming with hot, newborn stars, which shine primarily with ultraviolet light.

"The stars in the arms are about one billion years old, while the stars in the body are about ten times older," said Gil de Paz.

NGC 4625's spiral arms are very lengthy, extending four times beyond the size of the core of the galaxy. They represent the largest ultraviolet galactic disk discovered so far.

Also of interest in the new Galaxy Evolution Explorer image is a nearby companion galaxy, which looks very similar to NGC 4625, yet has no arms. How could this galactic duo have turned out so differently? Astronomers do not know, but some theories hold that the presence of the armless galaxy was required for NGC 4625 to grow a set.

"We know that interactions between galaxies can spur the creation of stars, but it is not clear why only one galaxy ended up with arms," said Dr. Chris Martin of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif, principal investigator for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer.

Previous studies of the gas distribution around the two galaxies indicate that NGC 4625 might have developed in a more dynamically stable environment, while the armless galaxy grew up in a more chaotic and turbulent setting.

Other authors of this paper include: Dr. S. Boissier, Carnegie Observatories; Dr. R. Swaters, University of Maryland, College Park; Dr. R. J. Tuffs, Max Planck Institut fur Kernphysik, Germany; Dr. K. Sheth, Caltech; Dr. R.C. Kennicutt, University of Arizona, Tucson; Drs. L. Bianchi and D. Thilker, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

Caltech leads the Galaxy Evolution Explorer mission and is responsible for science operations and data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the mission and built the science instrument. The mission was developed under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. South Korea and France are the international partners in the mission.

For images and information about the Galaxy Evolution Explorer on the Internet, visit http://www.galex.caltech.edu/.

From: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news-print.cfm?release=2005-120