Spiral Galaxy In Centaurus
Explanation:
Centaurus, the Centaur, is
one of
the most striking constellations in the southern sky.
The lovely
Milky Way
flows through this large constellation whose
celestial wonders also include the closest star to the sun,
Alpha Centauri,
the largest globular star cluster in our galaxy,
Omega Centauri,
and the closest active galaxy,
Centaurus A.
Embraced by tightly wound spiral arms of bright blue star clusters,
this gorgeous galaxy -
cataloged as ESO 269-57 - also falls within
Centaurus' borders.
Seen behind a veil of foreground stars which lie within our own
galaxy, this face-on
spiral galaxy is about 150 million
light-years away and 200,000 light-years across.
The brighter foreground stars are marked by
diffraction spikes caused
by the telescope and yellow vertical stripes due to saturated digital
camera pixels in the above
Very Large Telescope image from the European Southern Observatory.
Tantalizing wisps of more distant, faint galaxies are
visible in the background.
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.
