Posted on 04/08/2009 1:31:00 PM PDT by NYer
An unusual large galaxy with a shape bordering between spiral and elliptical has been spotted by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 7049 sits in the southern constellation Indus, and is the brightest of a cluster of galaxies, a so-called Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG). Typical BCGs are some of the oldest and most massive galaxies, which provide excellent opportunities for astronomers to study the elusive globular clusters lurking within.
The halo, a ghostly region of diffuse light surrounding the galaxy, is composed of myriads of individual stars and provides a luminous background to the swirling ring of dust lanes surrounding NGC 7049's core.
Small faint points of light sprinkled throughout the galaxy represent globular clusters, which are gravitational groupings of several hundreds of thousands of stars. They contain some of the first stars to be produced in a galaxy.
NGC 7049 has far fewer such clusters than other similar giant galaxies in very big, rich groups. This indicates to astronomers how the surrounding environment influenced the formation of galaxy halos in the early universe.
Hubble captured this image using its Advanced Camera for Surveys, which is primed to hunt galaxies and galaxy clusters in the remote and ancient universe. The space telescope recently imaged a group of colliding galaxies chosen in an online voting contest.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Yeah, except that what we see today as those space images, is just light from those bodies, from millions of years ago.
Cool picture!!!
Everything happens for a reason.
Wow. Just, Wow!
What hand????
OMG! Message received!!!
uh, never mind!!
As in the creation of the universe itself.
So, what is the “Eye of God” photo?
Hummmm......interesting photo.....thanks.
Thanks!
Thank you - absolutely breathtaking!
Pinging......
Thank you! That is really cool.
Reminds me of the story about the time an international gathering of scientists decided they knew everything and no longer needed God. They sent one of their group to a mountain top to tell God that they had solved all of life’s mysteries and He was no longer necessary. The Lord took it well and challenged the scientist to a contest, winner take all. He suggested they each make a man, and told the scientist to go first. The scientist reached down and picked up a hand full of dirt, but God told him, “Oh no, get your own dirt!”
Pretty!
::: grin :::
(( ping ))
ping
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.