The Andromeda Galaxy in optical, IR and X-ray

Earlier this week, this amazing image of M31, the Andromeda galaxy, was splashed all over the media and the inernet. The image is a composite of optical, infrared and X-ray data, with the infrared image coming from the Herschel space telescope, launched in 2009. The picture has been featured and discussed in the media all week – rightly so, as it’s stunning. With Herschel, we can finally showcase far-infrared and submillimetre images that are just as beautiful as those produced at shorter wavelengths with Hubble, or VLT on the ground. Moreover, observing galaxies at these wavelengths at the level of detail enabled by Herschel is opening some big new windows onto the physics that governs the Universe, from right on our doorstep to billions of lightyears away. What I’m saying, if that wasn’t yet clear, is that this telescope is something to be very proud of.

The Daily Mail, however, decided to take a different approach – one that both misses the point, and is plain wrong. It sets the Herschel image side by side with an optical image of Andromeda, taken by British amateur astronomer Steve Loughran, and asks:

“One of these pictures was taken in a British back garden by an amateur using kit worth £10,000 – the other cost Nasa millions. But can you tell the difference?”