The Andromeda galaxy, also referred to as Messier 31 (M31), is a glittering beacon on this picture launched on June 25, 2025, in tribute to the groundbreaking legacy of astronomer Dr. Vera Rubin, whose observations remodeled our understanding of the universe. Within the Sixties, Rubin and her colleagues studied M31 and decided that there was some unseen matter within the galaxy that was affecting how the galaxy and its spiral arms rotated. This unknown materials was named “darkish matter.”
M31 is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way at a distance of about 2.5 million light-years. Astronomers use Andromeda to grasp the construction and evolution of our personal spiral, which is far more durable to do since Earth is embedded contained in the Milky Manner.
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Picture credit score: X-ray: NASA/CXO/UMass/Z. Li & Q.D. Wang, ESA/XMM-Newton; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE, Spitzer, NASA/JPL-Caltech/Okay. Gordon (U. Az), ESA/Herschel, ESA/Planck, NASA/IRAS, NASA/COBE; Radio: NSF/GBT/WSRT/IRAM/C. Clark (STScI); Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GALEX; Optical: Andromeda, Sudden © Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, Yann Sainty & J. Sahner, T. Kottary. Composite picture processing: L. Frattare, Okay. Arcand, J.Main