Posted on 10/28/2021 3:59:17 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: As far as ghosts go, Mirach's Ghost isn't really that scary. Mirach's Ghost is just a faint, fuzzy galaxy, well known to astronomers, that happens to be seen nearly along the line-of-sight to Mirach, a bright star. Centered in this star field, Mirach is also called Beta Andromedae. About 200 light-years distant, Mirach is a red giant star, cooler than the Sun but much larger and so intrinsically much brighter than our parent star. In most telescopic views, glare and diffraction spikes tend to hide things that lie near Mirach and make the faint, fuzzy galaxy look like a ghostly internal reflection of the almost overwhelming starlight. Still, appearing in this sharp image just above and to the right of Mirach, Mirach's Ghost is cataloged as galaxy NGC 404 and is estimated to be some 10 million light-years away.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Mirach’s Ghost is 404, not found...
Now I won’t be able to sleep tonight.
I’ll have to check under my bed for stars.
LOL, mea culpa.
A diffraction spike once stabbed my sister.
Looks like a star, not a “ghost”...
It was a bit subtle...
A great catch, and I enjoyed it. :)
Dark Matter! something is out there! Galactic Graveyard! Gamma Ray Gouls!
Thoughtfully translated into Spanish!
Materias Obscura! Cementarious Galactico! and of course Demonines de Rayos Gamma!
(The scary link!)
Nice!
A favorite object from my youth! I use it to check on viewing conditions as if I can see it well, it’s reasonably clear.
And I always like objects with good guide stars.
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