Posted on 07/27/2014 6:47:45 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Shiny NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, and also one of the dustiest. Some call it the Silver Dollar Galaxy for its appearance in small telescopes, or just the Sculptor Galaxy for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation Sculptor. First swept up in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our own Local Group of Galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes, tendrils of dust seem to be rising from a galactic disk laced with young star clusters and star forming regions in this sharp color image. The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, earning NGC 253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays, likely due to massives black hole near the galaxy's center.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit & Copyright: László Francsics]
Balderdash!
It’s God playing with us.
These time-machine photos are the best! I really like looking at images from ten million years in
the past. All those hot young stars must be getting a little long in the tooth after ten million years.
But we get to see them when they were just crawling out of the star-forming mist.
Thank you for this ping and all the APOD pings, dear friend.
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