Starship Asterisk*

Galaxies, Stars, and Dust

Explanation: Spiky stars and spooky shapes abound in this deep cosmic skyscape. Its well-composed field of view covers about 2 Full Moons on the sky toward the constellation Pegasus. Of course the brighter stars show diffraction spikes, the commonly seen effect of internal supports in reflecting telescopes, and lie well within our own Milky Way galaxy. The faint but pervasive clouds of interstellar dust ride above the galactic plane and dimly reflect the Milky Way's combined starlight. Known as high latitude cirrus or integrated flux nebulae they are associated with molecular clouds. In this case, the diffuse cloud cataloged as MBM 54, less than a thousand light-years distant, fills the scene. Other galaxies far beyond the Milky Way are visible through the ghostly apparitions, including the striking spiral galaxy NGC 7497 some 60 million light-years away. Seen almost edge-on near the center of the field, NGC 7497's own spiral arms and dust lanes echo the colors of the Milky Way's stars and dust.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[/b]

This is a very fascinating and striking image.

I am the owner of an old galaxy catalog from 1988, The Color Atlas of Galaxies by James D Wray. In that catalog there is a picture of NGC 7497, the galaxy that is seen among the dusty cirrus clouds of the Milky Way in today's APOD.

In the 1988 caption of the 1977 picture of NGC 7497, James D Wray wrote:

The spiral features are broad, diffuse, and rather disorganized. Dust reddening appears to affect the color of this system noticably.

Ann

Lots of shapes, and faces, and things....oh my....

Great Image...

:---[===] *

APOD Robot wrote: Of course the brighter stars show diffraction spikes, the commonly seen effect of internal [url=http://www.telescope-optics.

I really like the star spikes! For me it adds to the beauty of the picture!

I, too, love this APOD. It's a very striking image and has plenty of science.

“Milky Way”… our only hope is that hostile galactic conquering aliens are lactose intolerant

Thank you for the link to an explanation of Spider diffraction. I didn't know the spikes are from the telescope's secondary mirror mount. Thought it was CCD bleeding.

This place is an on-going astronomy seminar. Follow each of the links for the complete lecture d'joure.
--
Obquote: "Fascinating!" -Spock.

This image does not seem to be a part of the Universe.
Look like a beautiful Persian carpet.

Upon leaving for the next APOD I have to say this is one of my absolute favorites.