by APOD Robot » Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:07 am
Sideways Galaxy NGC 3628
Explanation: Dark dust lanes cut across the middle of this gorgeous
island universe, a strong hint that
NGC 3628 is a spiral galaxy seen
sideways. About 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime
constellation Leo, NGC 3628 bears the distinction of being the only member of the well known
Leo triplet of galaxies not in Charles Messier's
famous catalog. Otherwise similar in size to our
Milky Way Galaxy, the disk of NGC 3628 is clearly seen to fan out near the edges. A faint arm of material extends to the upper left. The distorted shape and faint
tidal tail suggest that
NGC 3628 is interacting gravitationally with the other spiral galaxies in the Leo triplet,
M66 and
M65. The dusty disk of NGC 3628 is also dotted with the telltale reddish hues of star-forming regions in this sharp telescopic view. Explore the
full resolution version here.
[/b]
[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110316.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_110316.jpg[/img] [size=150]Sideways Galaxy NGC 3628[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Dark dust lanes cut across the middle of this gorgeous [url=http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology/ideas/island.htm]island universe[/url], a strong hint that [url=http://seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n3628.html]NGC 3628[/url] is a spiral galaxy seen [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010510.html]sideways[/url]. About 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime [url=http://www.pacificsites.com/~hakuna/leo.html]constellation Leo[/url], NGC 3628 bears the distinction of being the only member of the well known [url=http://seds.org/messier/more/m066gr.html]Leo triplet[/url] of galaxies not in Charles Messier's [url=http://seds.org/messier/xtra/history/m-cat.html]famous catalog[/url]. Otherwise similar in size to our [url=http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html]Milky Way Galaxy[/url], the disk of NGC 3628 is clearly seen to fan out near the edges. A faint arm of material extends to the upper left. The distorted shape and faint [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070727.html]tidal tail[/url] suggest that [url=http://www.aao.gov.au/images/captions/aat063.html]NGC 3628[/url] is interacting gravitationally with the other spiral galaxies in the Leo triplet, [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060902.html]M66[/url] and [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070601.html]M65[/url]. The dusty disk of NGC 3628 is also dotted with the telltale reddish hues of star-forming regions in this sharp telescopic view. Explore the [url=http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Galaxies/NGC3628/NGC3628.htm]full resolution version here[/url].
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