M33 is "about half the size of our Milky Way Galaxy, and is located about 2.9 million light-years from Earth." NASA’s Swift satellite over December and January took the "most detailed ultraviolet image of an entire galaxy ever taken".
"The image clearly shows the spiral structure of M33. New stars are forming inside the spiral arms. These stars are very hot, and give off a lot of ultraviolet light. This light hits nearby clouds of gas, heating them up and causing them to also shine in ultraviolet light. 'The entire galaxy is ablaze with starbirth,' adds [NASA Astronomer Stefan] Immler. 'Despite M33’s small size, it has a much higher star-formation rate than our Milky Way Galaxy. All of this starbirth lights up the galaxy in the ultraviolet.'"
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