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.
2007 March 15
NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans
Credit & Copyright: SSRO-South (D.Goldman, J.Harvey, R.Gilbert, D.Verschatse) - PROMPT (D.Reichart) Explanation: Distorted galaxy NGC 2442 can be found in the southern constellation of the
flying fish, (Piscis)
Volans. Located about 50 million light-years away, the galaxy's two
spiral arms extending from a pronounced central bar give it an
ominous hook-shaped appearance. This
striking color image also shows obscuring dust lanes, young blue star clusters and
reddish star forming regions surrounding a core of yellowish light from an older population of stars. But the star forming regions seem more concentrated along the drawn-out northern (top) spiral arm. The distorted structure is likely the result of a
close encounter with a smaller galaxy located just outside this telescopic field of view. The picture
spans about 1/6 of a degree, or 150,000 light years at the estimated distance
of NGC 2442reposted from: nasa
my: highlights / emphasis / key points / comments
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