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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня M100: великолепный рисунок http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1163539/eng |
Credit & Copyright: NASA
Explanation:
Majestic on a truly cosmic scale,
M100 is appropriately known as a
Grand Design spiral galaxy.
A large galaxy of over 100 billion or so stars with
well defined spiral arms,
it is similar to our own Milky Way.
One of the brightest members of
the Virgo Cluster of galaxies , M100 (alias NGC 4321) is
56 million light-years distant in the spring constellation of
Coma Berenices.
This Hubble Space Telescope image of the central region
M100 revealing bright stars and intricate winding dust lanes
was made in 1993 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.
Studies of
stars in M100 have
recently played an important role
in determining the size and age of the Universe.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.