(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, August 3, 2020: The
barred spiral galaxy known as NGC 4907 shows its best side from 270
million light-years away to anyone who can see it from the northern
hemisphere.This is a new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the face-on the galaxy, displaying its beautiful spiral arms, wound loosely around its central bright bar of stars.
Shining brightly below the galaxy is a star that is
actually within our own Milky Way galaxy. This star appears much
brighter than the many millions of stars in NGC 4907 as it is 100 000
times closer, residing only 2500 light-years away.
NGC 4907 is also part of the Coma Cluster,
a group of over 1000 galaxies, some of which can be seen around NGC
4907 in this image. This massive cluster of galaxies lies within the
constellation of Coma Berenices, which is named for the locks of Queen Berenice II of Egypt: the only constellation named after a historical person.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Gregg
2 comments:
Heh....."only 2500 light-years away".....when we look at that star in the image, we're seeing light which it emitted a little before the birth of Socrates. The light now reaching us from NGC 4907 left it long before the dawn of the dinosaurs.
Thanks for these occasional posts reminding us of the vastness of the universe which awaits us.
Infidel -- you're welcome. Space time is humbling in its awesomeness.
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