by APOD Robot » Wed Jun 07, 2023 4:08 am
M94: A Double Ring Galaxy
Explanation: Most galaxies don't have any rings of stars and gas -- why does
M94 have two? First,
spiral galaxy M94 has an inner ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an
unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A
leading origin hypothesis holds that an elongated
knot of stars known as a
bar rotates in
M94 and has generated a burst of
star formation in this inner ring.
Observations have also revealed another ring, an outer ring, one that is more faint, different in color, not closed, and relatively complex. What caused this outer ring is currently unknown. M94,
pictured here, spans about 45,000
light years in total, lies about 15 million light years away, and can be seen with a
small telescope toward the
constellation of the Hunting Dogs (
Canes Venatici).
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230607.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_230607.jpg[/img] [size=150]M94: A Double Ring Galaxy[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Most galaxies don't have any rings of stars and gas -- why does [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_94]M94[/url] have two? First, [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/spiral_galaxies.html]spiral galaxy[/url] M94 has an inner ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an [url=https://www.rover.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/pug-2648774_1920-960x540.jpg]unusual appearance[/url] but also a strong interior glow. A [url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001AJ....121.1395W/abstract]leading origin hypothesis[/url] holds that an elongated [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_%28mathematics%29#/media/File:Knot_table.svg]knot[/url] of stars known as a [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221016.html]bar[/url] rotates in [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100114.html]M94[/url] and has generated a burst of [url=https://universe.nasa.gov/stars/basics/]star[/url] formation in this inner ring. [url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009ApJ...704..618T/abstract]Observations[/url] have also revealed another ring, an outer ring, one that is more faint, different in color, not closed, and relatively complex. What caused this outer ring is currently unknown. M94, [url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CscKadTpICu/]pictured here[/url], spans about 45,000 [url=http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html]light years[/url] in total, lies about 15 million light years away, and can be seen with a [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011014.html]small telescope[/url] toward the [url=https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellations/en/]constellation[/url] of the Hunting Dogs ([url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canes_Venatici]Canes Venatici[/url]).
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