ESO Picture of the Week | 2012 Mar 19
The Very Large Telescope has captured another member of the Leo I group of galaxies, in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). The galaxy Messier 95 stands boldly face-on, offering an ideal view of its spiral structure. The spiral arms form an almost perfect circle around the galactic centre before they spread out, creating a mane-like effect of which any lion would be proud.
Another, perhaps even more striking, feature of Messier 95 is its blazing golden core. It contains a nuclear star-forming ring, almost 2000 light-years across, where a large proportion of the galaxy’s star formation takes place. This phenomenon occurs mostly in barred spiral galaxies such as Messier 95 and our home, the Milky Way.
In the Leo I group, Messier 95 is outshone by its brother Messier 96 (potw1143). Messier 96 is in fact the brightest member of the group and — as “leader of the pride” — also gives Leo I its alternative name of the M 96 group. Nevertheless, Messier 95 also makes for a spectacular image.
Credit: ESO
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