Visitors Galaxy Gallery
Explanation:
A tantalizing assortment of
island universes is assembled here.
From top left to bottom right are the lovely but distant galaxies
M61,
NGC 4449,
NGC 4725,
NGC 5068,
NGC 5247,
and
NGC
5775/5774.
Most are
spiral galaxies
more or less like
our own Milky Way.
The color images reveal distinct pink patches marking the glowing
hydrogen gas clouds in star forming regions, along the graceful
spiral arms.
While
Virgo cluster galaxy
M61 is perhaps the most striking of these spirals,
the interesting
galaxy pair
NGC 5775/5774 neatly contrasts the characteristic
spiral edge-on and face-on appearance.
The one exception
to
this parade of photogenic spiral galaxies is
the small and relatively close irregular galaxy NGC 4449 (top middle).
Similar to the
Large
Magellanic Cloud, companion galaxy to the
Milky Way, NGC 4449 also sports young blue stars and pink star forming
regions.
All the
galaxies
in this gallery were imaged with a small
(16 inch diameter) reflecting telescope
and digital camera by public participants in the
Kitt Peak National Observatory
Visitor Center's
Advanced Observing Program.
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.
