ESA and NASA have multiple eyes in orbit to scrutinize the secrets of the observable cosmos, like those of the great Andromeda spiral galaxy. In a recent publication, NASA presents several images and a video of the Sonification of the Andromeda Galaxy. All this helps astronomers understand the evolution of the Milky Way, our own spiral galaxy.
Did you know that in astronomy what is called the local group is an association of galaxies dominated by the great galaxy of Andromède and ours which brings together, in a volume of around 3 million light years of radius, a hundred galaxies?
Do you know that the Andromeda galaxy is also called Messier 31 (M31), in reference to the catalog of nebulaenebulae and clusters ofstarsstars Better known as Messier’s catalog, an astronomical catalog of objects created in 1774 by French Charles MessierCharles Messier to help hunters from cometscomets not to confuse them with various objects diffusediffuse whose nature was then unknown and which we know today to be galaxies, various types of nebulae and stars heaps?
A galaxy scrutinized from radio waves on X -rays
Do you finally know that M31 is the Galaxy spiralGalaxy spiral closest to the Milky WayMilky Wayaround 2.5 million light years old, and that it is therefore an object astrophysicsastrophysics Privileged to understand the other more distant spiral galaxies and simply our own galaxy that we cannot study from outside?
A large tour with M31 telescopes. To obtain a fairly faithful French translation, click on the white rectangle at the bottom right. Subtitles in English should then appear. Then click on the nut to the right of the rectangle, then on “Subtitles” and finally on “Translate automatically”. Choose “French”. © Chandra X-Ray Observatory
Images of M31 sonified
In fact, it is in particular by studying the speedsspeeds stars in Andromeda that Vera Rubin will start to accumulate evidence of the existence of dark matterdark matterunless it is those of the need to modify the laws of celestial mechanics of NewtonNewton As part of Monde theory.
The fact remains that the NasaNasa recently published a series of M31 portraits taken in different wavelengthswavelengthswhich makes it possible to obtain various information on the galaxy of Andromède, such as proof of its fusionfusion With another galaxy only a few billion years ago.
In the end, it was possible to form a new composite image from observations in the field of X -raysX -rays from the X -ray observatory ChandraChandra NASA and XMM-NewtonXMM-Newton of the ESA – l ‘European Space AgencyEuropean Space Agency – (represented in red, green and blue); ultraviolet data from the Galex observatory of NASA (Blue); data in the visible astrophotographers using telescopestelescopes Terrestrials (Jakob Sahner and Tarun Kottary); data infraredinfrared of Spitzer space telescopeSpitzer space telescope of the satellite of infrared astronomy, cobe, PlanckPlanck and Herschel (red, orange and purple); and radio data from radiotélescoperadiotélescope at WesterBork synthesis (red-orange). These sets of multi-long wave data are also published in the form of sonification.
In this Sonification of M31, the images of each type of telescope were separated and presented so as to pile up horizontally, starting with the X -rays at the top, then passing by the ultraviolet, the visible, the infrared and the radio waves at the bottom. As the scan moves from left to right, each type of light is associated with a range of distinct notes, ranging from low energy radio waves to high energy X -rays. The brightness of each source controls the volume, while the vertical position determines the height. © NASA/CXC/SAO/K.ARCAND, System Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
