by Ann » Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:43 am
I really like Immo Gerber's picture of M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. The colors are splendid. We can see a somewhat overexposed yellow center, surrounded by a yellow ring whose color is diluted by the presence of newborn blue stars, typically found in a ring structure around the center. Then there is a reddish-brown zone characterized by thick dust and dust reddening, and then there is a blue zone characterized by newborn massive stars. And then there is this huge greyish-brown outer envelope, probably full of gas and dust and possibly a population of old reddish stars. Like so many other well-resolved galaxy images, this one shows that major star formation in a spiral galaxy is often only found in a relatively narrow zone between the bulge and a large outer envelope.
What a great picture!
Abb
I really like Immo Gerber's picture of M63, the Sunflower Galaxy. The colors are splendid. We can see a somewhat overexposed yellow center, surrounded by a yellow ring whose color is diluted by the presence of newborn blue stars, typically found in a ring structure around the center. Then there is a reddish-brown zone characterized by thick dust and dust reddening, and then there is a blue zone characterized by newborn massive stars. And then there is this huge greyish-brown outer envelope, probably full of gas and dust and possibly a population of old reddish stars. Like so many other well-resolved galaxy images, this one shows that major star formation in a spiral galaxy is often only found in a relatively narrow zone between the bulge and a large outer envelope.
What a great picture!
Abb