wookie
04-18-2007, 08:52 PM
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html) Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2007 April 18
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0704/ngc1672_hst.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0704/ngc1672_hst_big.jpg)
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
Credit: NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/), ESA (http://www.spacetelescope.org/), Hubble Heritage (http://heritage.stsci.edu/) Team (STScI (http://www.stsci.edu/) / AURA (http://www.aura-astronomy.org/)) Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA);
Acknowledgment: L. Jenkins (GSFC (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/)/U. Leicester (http://www.le.ac.uk/physics/index.shtml)) Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even our own Milky Way Galaxy (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000130.html) is thought to have a modest central bar (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050825.html). Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, pictured above (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/15/image/a/), was captured in spectacular detail in this recently released image taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope). Visible are dark filamentary dust lanes (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060219.html), young clusters (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html) of bright blue stars, red emission nebulas (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html) of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bright bar of stars across the center, and a bright active nucleus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus) that likely houses a supermassive black hole (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html). Light takes about 60 million years to reach us from NGC 1672 (http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007/15/caption.html), which spans about 75,000 light years (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html) across. NGC 1672, which appears toward the constellation of the Swordfish (Dorado (http://www.astronomical.org/portal/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=33)), is being studied (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop.6669J) to find out how a spiral bar contributes to star formation in a galaxy's central regions.
Tomorrow's picture: Omega Cen (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070419.html)
< (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070417.html) | Archive (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html) | Index (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html) | Search (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search) | Calendar (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html) | Glossary (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html) | Education (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html) | About APOD (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html) | Discuss (http://bb.nightskylive.net/asterisk/viewforum.php?f=9) | > (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070419.html) Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn.html) (MTU (http://www.phy.mtu.edu/)) & Jerry Bonnell (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html) (USRA (http://www.usra.edu/))
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply).
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& Michigan Tech. U. (http://www.mtu.edu/)
Discover the cosmos! (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html) Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2007 April 18
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0704/ngc1672_hst.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0704/ngc1672_hst_big.jpg)
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
Credit: NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/), ESA (http://www.spacetelescope.org/), Hubble Heritage (http://heritage.stsci.edu/) Team (STScI (http://www.stsci.edu/) / AURA (http://www.aura-astronomy.org/)) Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA);
Acknowledgment: L. Jenkins (GSFC (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/)/U. Leicester (http://www.le.ac.uk/physics/index.shtml)) Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even our own Milky Way Galaxy (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000130.html) is thought to have a modest central bar (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050825.html). Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, pictured above (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/15/image/a/), was captured in spectacular detail in this recently released image taken by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope). Visible are dark filamentary dust lanes (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060219.html), young clusters (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html) of bright blue stars, red emission nebulas (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html) of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bright bar of stars across the center, and a bright active nucleus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus) that likely houses a supermassive black hole (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html). Light takes about 60 million years to reach us from NGC 1672 (http://heritage.stsci.edu/2007/15/caption.html), which spans about 75,000 light years (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html) across. NGC 1672, which appears toward the constellation of the Swordfish (Dorado (http://www.astronomical.org/portal/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=33)), is being studied (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop.6669J) to find out how a spiral bar contributes to star formation in a galaxy's central regions.
Tomorrow's picture: Omega Cen (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070419.html)
< (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070417.html) | Archive (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html) | Index (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html) | Search (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search) | Calendar (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html) | Glossary (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html) | Education (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html) | About APOD (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html) | Discuss (http://bb.nightskylive.net/asterisk/viewforum.php?f=9) | > (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070419.html) Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn.html) (MTU (http://www.phy.mtu.edu/)) & Jerry Bonnell (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html) (USRA (http://www.usra.edu/))
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply).
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices (http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html)
A service of: ASD (http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/) at NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/) / GSFC (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/)
& Michigan Tech. U. (http://www.mtu.edu/)