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Astronomy Picture of the Day
NASA ^ | 8/24/08 | FORS1, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO

Posted on 08/24/2008 6:26:47 AM PDT by sig226


Grand Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232
Credit:
FORS1, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO

Explanation: Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232, captured in detail by one of the new Very Large Telescopes, is a good example. The visible is dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust, caught up in a gravitational swirl of spiral arms rotating about the center. Open clusters containing bright blue stars can be seen sprinkled along these spiral arms, while dark lanes of dense interstellar dust can be seen sprinkled between them. Less visible, but detectable, are billions of dim normal stars and vast tracts of interstellar gas, together wielding such high mass that they dominate the dynamics of the inner galaxy. Invisible are even greater amounts of matter in a form we don't yet know - pervasive dark matter needed to explain the motions of the visible in the outer galaxy. What's out there?


TOPICS: Astronomy Picture of the Day
KEYWORDS: apod

1 posted on 08/24/2008 6:26:49 AM PDT by sig226
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To: fnord; Number57; KevinDavis; rdb3; MNJohnnie; thoughtomator; RightWhale; proudofthesouth; ...

2 posted on 08/24/2008 6:27:27 AM PDT by sig226 (Obama '08 - No, You Can't.)
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To: sig226

For those who just can’t get enough of this...

http://galaxyzoo.org


3 posted on 08/24/2008 6:31:46 AM PDT by xcamel (Conservatives start smart, and get rich, liberals start rich, and get stupid.)
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To: sig226

You overlay a compact hurricane over that image and it would be near identical, simply amazing.


4 posted on 08/24/2008 8:26:45 AM PDT by Wild Willy
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To: sig226

Incredible photo!


5 posted on 08/24/2008 8:27:00 AM PDT by Crankologist
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To: sig226
Here is Hurricane Isabel flipped and overlaid... just playing but the banding almost matches perfectly.


6 posted on 08/24/2008 8:27:04 AM PDT by Wild Willy
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To: Wild Willy

We are all reminded of ‘The Spirality of all Nature?’


7 posted on 08/24/2008 8:33:28 AM PDT by litehaus (A memory tooooo long)
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To: sig226

“What’s out there?”

I don’t really know, either, but I know that since Christ is my Saviour I will have all eternity, along with all my fellow-believers to explore, admire and develop it. We will NOT sit around on clouds strumming on harps. God is a BUSY God. And in our glorious resurrection bodies, like Christ had when HE rose from the dead, we will be busy, too, and NEVER get tired!

2Co 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.


8 posted on 08/24/2008 9:09:42 AM PDT by Tucker39 (Darwin, Huxley, Sagan, et al began believing in God and Creation after 5 seconds in Hell!)
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To: xcamel

Thank you for the great site. I scored 13/15 on the Galaxy Analysis.


9 posted on 08/25/2008 4:49:16 AM PDT by SouthDixie (We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly.)
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To: SouthDixie

Very good!


10 posted on 08/25/2008 5:06:54 AM PDT by xcamel (Conservatives start smart, and get rich, liberals start rich, and get stupid.)
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