Galaxy season's upon us again... that time of the year where the Earth turns away from the galactic plane in the northern hemisphere and more easily shows us the marvels that lay way beyond our Milky Way. Not that far away from us, at merely 14 million light-years' distance, lies a group of galaxies in the small but wonderful constellation of Canes Venatici, the dogs that hunt the great bear. Last year I already talked about the highly irregular "Train Wreck Galaxy", this year I'm taking you to its spectacular neighbour, NGC4244 or better known as the "Silver Needle Galaxy".
There's no need to explain this nickname because the minute you point your telescope to it, you'll understand where it came from. It's one of those galaxies we see edge-on and for this reason we see it as a long streak with a brighter and wider area at its core. Yet, from the peculiar clumping of stars along its disk scientists conclude that it must have very loose spiral arms.
No comments:
Post a Comment