NASA’s Swift satellite is equipped with some very sensitive instruments. These include a telescope designed for observing in the ultraviolet. While searching for gamma ray bursts, Swift found the time to build the most detailed ultraviolet image of an entire galaxy ever taken. Ultraviolet rays are outside the normal range of visual light that we can see with our eyes, but these rays can still affect you. New forming stars also give off a tremendous amount of ultraviolet radiation. By looking at a galaxy in the ultraviolet, you can see the regions of star formations. That exactly what Swift did when it zeroed in on M33- the Triangulum Galaxy, which is about half the size of the Milky Way, and is located about 2.9 million light-years from Earth.
Full article: http://www.universetoday.com/2008/02/27/an-entire-galaxy-seen-in-ultraviolet/#more-12985
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