Galaxies Beyond the Heart: Maffei 1 and 2
Explanation:
The two galaxies on the far left were unknown until 1968.
Although they would have appeared as two of the brighter galaxies on the night sky,
the opaque dust of the
central band of our
Milky Way Galaxy
had
obscured them from being seen in visible light.
The
above image
in
infrared light taken by the recently launched
Wide-Field
Infrared Survey Explorer
(
WISE),
however, finds these galaxies in
great detail
far behind -- but seemingly next to -- the
photogenic Heart nebula (IC 1805).
The
spiral galaxy
near the top is the easiest to spot and is known as
Maffei 2.
Just below and to its right is fuzzy-looking
Maffei 1,
the closest giant
elliptical galaxy to Earth.
The
above
false-colored image spans three
full moons from top to bottom.
The
Maffei galaxies each
span about 15,000 light years across and lie about 10 million
light years away
toward the
constellation of the Queen of
Ethiopia (Cassiopeia).
On the image right, stars, gaseous filaments, and warm
dust highlight a detailed
infrared view
of the
Heart nebula.
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.
