That's an awesome image Rob! Everywhere you look there are little
fuzzies.
Gary
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 1:25
PM
Subject: [APML] New Image: NGC 7331
Hi all,
Here's a new image of the NGC 7331 field. The
transparent skies
helped most of all with the color which is generally weak
for this
galaxy. Make sure to scroll the large image for the myriad
of
background galaxies. Also a write up on this galaxy is below.
http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/NGC7331NM.html
NGC
7331
Distance 50 million years
What might our
Milky Way look like across the vastness of 50 million light
years? Because
of striking similarities to our own galaxy, NGC 7331 offers
us an unusual
outside perspective of our galaxy. Recent detailed
observations of NGC 7331
revealed great similarities in the distribution of
stars, overall mass,
spiral pattern, and the likely presence of a similar
monstrous black hole
at the core of both galaxies. A curious ring of
molecular gas coupled with
newly formed stars extends outward some 20,000
light years from the core.
The ring is not visible in optical images but its
presence is apparent at
infrared wavelengths, which reveals the myriad of
young stars. The huge
reservoir of gas and dust associated with the
ring-like structure contains
the raw materials to produce another 4 billion
suns. Another peculiar
feature of the galaxy is a counter-rotating inner
stellar disk within 5000
light years of its nucleus. The most likely
scenario accounting for the
retrograde disk component is a previous large
scale merger where the
aberrantly rotating system was acquired through from
a large disk galaxy.
Counter-rotating stellar systems have also been
detected in other galaxies
such as M104 and NGC 2841. Visible in the image
are three distant
background galaxies (NGC7336, 7335, 7337). They are
approximately 10 times
more distant than NGC 7331.
Rob Gendler
email: robgendler@att.net
Web Site: http://www.robgendlerastropics.com
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