Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2013 January 8
Grand Spiral Galaxy NGC 7424
Image Credit & Copyright:
SSRO-South
(S. Mazlin, J. Harvey, D. Verschatse, R. Gilbert) &
Kevin Ivarsen
(UNC/CTIO/PROMPT)
Explanation:
The
grand, winding arms are almost mesmerizing in
this face-on view
of NGC 7424, a spiral galaxy with a prominent
central bar.
About 40 million
light-years distant in the
headlong constellation
Grus, this
island universe
is also about 100,000 light-years across making it remarkably
similar to our own
Milky Way.
Following along the winding arms, many bright
clusters
of massive young stars can be found.
The
star clusters themselves are several hundred light-years
in diameter.
And while massive stars are born in the arms of NGC 7424,
they also die there.
Notably, this galaxy was home to a
powerful stellar explosion,
supernova
SN 2001ig, which faded well before the above image
was recorded.
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