| Abstract: | Photographic measurements of the colour distribution in the irregular galaxy M82 are presented and interpreted in terms of a model of that galaxy. Two alternative models are discussed. In the first the galaxy consists of a disc of highly reddened OB-stars, whose scattered light is also seen in the halo, and a bulge of less reddened A—F stars. The direction of the inclination of the system, as inferred from this model, is opposite to that of LYNDS and SANDAGE (1963). The alternative inclination (second model) may possibly be preserved if one assumes a central dust ellipsoid reemitting scattered light from a central source of OB stars. If the velocities of the line emitting material refer to scattering particles, an inward motion of them is more probable than an outward one, irrespectively of the model, and the (dust) halo of the galaxy is probably contracting. |
