Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Astronomy Picture of the Day -- NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
NASA ^ | September 15, 2011 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 09/15/2011 3:13:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the constellation Leo. Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in small telescopes but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of other Leo spiral galaxies, like M66 and M65. Its hard to overlook in this colorful cosmic portrait, though. Spanning some 50,000 light-years the galaxy sports characteristic patchy, irregular spiral arms laced with dust, pink star forming regions, and clusters of young, blue stars. Remarkably, this deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in gigantic bubble-like shells. The shells are likely tidal debris, streams of stars torn from satellite galaxies that have undergone mergers with NGC 3521 in the distant past.

September 15, 2011

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; ngc3521; science
[Credit: R Jay Gabany (Blackbird Obs.), Collaboration: David Martinez-Delgado (MPIA, IAC), et al.]

1 posted on 09/15/2011 3:13:59 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

2 posted on 09/15/2011 3:14:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's never a bad time to FReep this link -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

My cousin liives there. Have not talked with her in years.


3 posted on 09/15/2011 5:02:23 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (O assumes the trappings of the presidency, not its mantle. He is not presidential.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

Light years?


4 posted on 09/15/2011 5:33:33 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Obama is a Communist, a Muslim, and an illegal alien)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
Looks like Ozone from all the SUV’s on that galaxy.
5 posted on 09/15/2011 6:34:44 AM PDT by Deaf Smith
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bmwcyle

Very nice. Yes. It seems so.


6 posted on 09/15/2011 7:48:14 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (O assumes the trappings of the presidency, not its mantle. He is not presidential.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

It could be called the Los Angeles Galaxy


7 posted on 09/15/2011 10:13:17 AM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson