Friday, January 18, 2013

APOD 3.1

A ripple in the great celestial river of Eridanus reveals a swirling galaxy, NGC 1309 on the bank but a good 100 million light-years away. It is about one third the size of the Milky Way--30000 light-years across--and has long spiraling arms of blue star clusters circling the settled, elderly yellow stars in the centre. Also the host of a rather recent supernova and the Cepheid variable stars which calibrate universal expansion, this beauty continues to glorify our skies today!

No comments:

Post a Comment