Credit & Copyright: Royal
Observatory Edinburgh, Anglo-Australian Observatory, and AURA
Explanation:
Almost every object in the above photograph is a
galaxy. The Coma Cluster of galaxies pictured
is a dense cluster containing many thousands of
galaxies. Many of these
galaxies contain as many stars as our own
Milky Way Galaxy. Although nearby
when compared to most other clusters, light from the Coma Cluster
still takes hundreds of millions of years to reach us. In
fact, the Coma Cluster is so big it takes light millions of years just to
go from one side to the other! This picture was created at the WWW site
Skyview, a "virtual
observatory" where it is possible to view any part of
the sky in wavelengths from radio to gamma-ray.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Coma Cluster
Publications with words: Coma Cluster
See also: