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Credit & Copyright: J. Gitlin (STScI)
Explanation:
Galaxies are made up
of stars, but are all stars
found within galaxies?
Using the Hubble Space Telescope,
researchers
exploring the
Virgo
Cluster of galaxies have found about 600 red giant stars
adrift
in intergalactic space.
Above is an artist's vision of the sky from a hypothetical planet
of such a lonely sun.
The night sky on a world orbiting an intergalactic star
would be a stark contrast to Earth's - which features
a spectacle of stars, all members of our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
As suggested by the illustration, a setting red sun
would leave behind a dark sky flecked only with faint, fuzzy,
apparitions of Virgo Cluster galaxies.
Possibly ejected from their home galaxies during
galaxy-galaxy collisions, these isolated suns
may well represent part of a large,
previously unseen stellar population, filling
the space between Virgo Cluster galaxies.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: galaxy cluster - red giant - night sky
Publications with words: galaxy cluster - red giant - night sky
See also: