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Astronomy Picture of the Day 4-3-02
NASA ^ | 4-3-02 | Rob Swenson and P. Harrison

Posted on 04/02/2002 10:04:14 PM PST by petuniasevan

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.

2002 April 3
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.

NGC 4414: A Flocculent Spiral Galaxy
Credit: Olivier Vallejo (Observatoire de Bordeaux), HST, ESA, NASA

Explanation: How much mass do flocculent spirals hide? The above true color image of flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 4414 was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope to help answer this question. Flocculent spirals -- galaxies without well defined spiral arms -- are a quite common form of galaxy, and NGC 4414 is one of the closest. Stars and gas near the visible edge of spiral galaxies orbit the center so fast that the gravity from a large amount of unseen dark matter must be present to hold them together. Pictured above is the photogenic center of NGC 4414. A bright foreground star from our Milky Way Galaxy shines in the foreground of the image. Although NGC 4414's center likely holds little dark matter, understanding its matter distribution helps calibrate the rest of the galaxy and, by deduction, flocculent spirals in general. By determining a precise distance to NGC 4414, astronomers also hope to help calibrate the scale to the more distant universe.


TOPICS: Astronomy Picture of the Day; Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: darkmatter; distant; dust; galaxy; gas; hubble; space; stars; telescope; universe
This beautiful flocculent (fluffy or wooly-appearing) spiral galaxy's vital statistics:

Object Name:
NGC 4414
Object Description:
Spiral Galaxy
Position (J2000):
R.A. 12h 26m 27s
Dec. +31° 13' 29"
Constellation :
Coma Berenices
Total Visual Magnitude:
V=10.1 magnitude
Distance:
19.1 megaparsecs (62,000,000 light years)
Optical Diameter:
17,000 parsecs (56,000 light years)

1 posted on 04/02/2002 10:04:14 PM PST by petuniasevan
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To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; grlfrnd...
APOD PING!

As always, ask to be added to the APOD PING list or subscribe to the Astronomy Picture of the Day topic!

2 posted on 04/02/2002 10:07:00 PM PST by petuniasevan
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To: petuniasevan
Cool.
3 posted on 04/02/2002 10:20:02 PM PST by farmfriend
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To: petuniasevan; Graewoulf
This focculent cloud
Gives me a hint
It's E.T.'s belly button
Without the lint.
4 posted on 04/03/2002 5:02:02 AM PST by 2Trievers
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To: 2Trievers
Maybe so,
It's hard to tell.
The swirl, right now,
Looks like the contents
Of my coffee cup.
5 posted on 04/03/2002 5:26:05 AM PST by Graewoulf
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To: petuniasevan
Awesome!
6 posted on 04/03/2002 5:35:18 AM PST by aomagrat
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To: Graewoulf
Wash that cup Woulfie
Between uses - it serves
Otherwise you risk a disease
Even NASA has no cures.
7 posted on 04/03/2002 5:42:57 AM PST by 2Trievers
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To: petuniasevan
Gorgeous!!
8 posted on 04/03/2002 7:02:23 AM PST by MozartLover
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To: petuniasevan
NGC 4414 would be smaller than the Milky Way. It looks like there have not been many supernovas to set up the defined starcycle waves defining spiral arms, and by consilience there would be no life above bacteria within NGC4414.
9 posted on 04/03/2002 8:24:16 AM PST by RightWhale
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