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.

2006 July 27
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
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NGC 7331 and Beyond
Credit & Copyright: R. Jay GaBany (Cosmotography.com)

Explanation: Spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as an analogue to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalogue. Since the galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, deep telescopic exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth. The effect is further enhanced in this well-framed view by the galaxies that lie beyond this beautiful island universe. The background galaxies are about one tenth the apparent size of NGC 7331 and so lie roughly ten times farther away.

Tomorrow's picture: stellar debris


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