M82: An Irregular Galaxy
Credit: The Electronic Universe Project
Not all galaxies have spiral structure like our Milky Way. Many have
smooth elliptical shapes, but also many have irregular shapes such
as the bright sky object M82, the 82nd object on
Messier's
list. The strange structure of this galaxy is thought to be caused by
young stars ejecting gas in energetic bubbles, and by lanes of absorbing
dust.