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Whirlpool galaxy, X-ray image
Whirlpool galaxy. Coloured Chandra X-ray Telescope image of the Whirlpool galaxy (M51, NGC 5194), showing sources which fall between the hard (high energy, cosmic) and soft (low energy, galactic) energies normally expected. These have been termed quasisoft sources and they lie in a temperature range of 1 to 4 million degrees Celsius. The Whirlpool galaxy is a spiral galaxy 13 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. X-ray sources of 0.3-1.0 keV are shown as red, 1.0-2.0 keV as green and 2.0-8.0 keV as blue. Taken over a period of 4 hours on June 20, 2000 with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS).
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