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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Запыленная спиральная галактика M66 http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1216065/eng |
Credit & Copyright: M. Neeser
(Univ.-Sternwarte Munchen),
P. Barthel (Kapteyn Astron. Institute),
H. Heyer, H. Boffin (ESO),
ESO
Explanation:
When morning twilight came to the
Paranal Observatory in Chile,
astronomers Mark Neeser and Peter Barthel interrupted their
search for faint
quasars, billions of
light-years away.
And just for a moment, they used
Very Large Telescopes
at the European Southern Observatory to appreciate the beauty of
the nearby Universe.
One result was
this stunning view
of beautiful spiral galaxy M66,
a mere 35 million light-years away.
About 100 thousand light-years across with striking dust lanes
and bright star clusters along sweeping spiral arms,
M66 is well known to astronomers as a
member of the Leo Triplet
of galaxies.
Gravitational interactions with its
neighborhood
galaxies
have likely influenced the shape of dusty spiral M66.
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.