Spiral Galaxy M96 from Hubble
Explanation:
Dust lanes seem to swirl around the core of
Messier 96 in this
colorful,
detailed portrait of the center of a beautiful
island universe.
Of course M96 is a
spiral galaxy, and counting the faint arms extending
beyond the brighter central region, it spans 100 thousand
light-years or so, making it about the size of our own
Milky Way.
M96, also known as
NGC 3368,
is known to be about 35 million light-years distant and a dominant
member of the
Leo I galaxy group.
The featured image
was taken by the
Hubble Space
Telescope.
The reason for
M96's asymmetry
is unclear -- it could have arisen from gravitational interactions with other Leo
I
group galaxies, but the lack of an intra-group diffuse glow seems to indicate
few recent interactions.
Galaxies far in the background can be found by
examining the edges of the picture.
Explore your Universe:
Random APOD Generator
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.
