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 ...
Outstanding! Thank you for posting that :-)
bttt
Bookmarked / thanks for thread!
One of my favorite stories ever!
Ping
That is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Acts 2:19 (NKJV):
“I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath...”
Numbers 24:17:
“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near:
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult.”
Revelation 22:16:
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
John 1:5:
“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
That sends a chill down my spine.
Joel 2 speaks of “wonders in the sky...before the awesome day of the Lord comes.” Peter repeats that passage in Acts 2.
Maranatha!
Beautiful scriptures, thanks 444. And a great photo for Easter. It certainly does look like a crown of thorns.
God’s glory continues to shine around us. Although no no one knows when he will come again, these wonders in the sky can be reminder to us of the hope we have.
1 Thess 5
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Yep.
Thank you for the ping...totally awesome, 444Flyer.
He is risen, He is risen indeed!
If you liked that picture, then you’ll like the rest.
Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Every day a new picture.
In Jesus Holy Name!
Amen.
Amen.
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