Astronomy Picture of the Day
Posted By admin On November 4, 2011 @ 1:13 pm In Photo Essays | Comments Disabled
[1]Image Credit & Copyright [2]: Stephen Leshin [3]
Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of magnificent edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628 [4] show a puffy galactic disk [5] divided by dark dust lanes. The tantalizing scene puts many astronomers in mind [6] of its popular moniker, The Hamburger Galaxy. About 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local Universe [7] with two other large spirals, a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet [8]. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for the extended flare and warp of this spiral’s disk, populated by the galaxy’s young blue [9] star clusters and tell tale pinkish star forming regions. Also a result of past close encounters, a faint tidal tail [10] of material is just visible extending upward and left in this deep galaxy portrait [11].
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URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2011/11/04/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-84/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NGC3628_LRGBleshin.jpg
[2] Copyright: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
[3] Stephen Leshin: http://sleshin.startlogic.com/
[4] galaxy NGC 3628: http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n3628.html
[5] galactic disk: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090613.html
[6] in mind: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020807.html
[7] local Universe: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galgrps/leoi.html
[8] the Leo Triplet: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110803.html
[9] young blue: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990402.html
[10] tidal tail: http://burro.cwru.edu/JavaLab/GalCrashWeb/dynamic.html
[11] this deep galaxy portrait: http://sleshin.startlogic.com/stargazergallery/main.php?g2_itemId=552
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