This image is of a small galaxy known as NGC 4449. It is located at an amazing distance of 12 million light-years away. Despite its vast distance from Earth, the galaxy itself spans only 20,000 light-years. The galaxy was found by William Herschel in 1788 and is currently recorded at a 9.4 magnitude. It is a Magellanic Dwarf Galaxy, often compared to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) which is known to be our Milky Way's satellite. The picture was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the reason for the reddish tint of the clouds is due to the presence of Hydrogen Gas. These red clouds actually resemble star forming regions, with enormous interstellar arcs and bubble formations. NGC 4449 is a part of a group of galaxies found in the constellation Canes Venatici which I believe is next on our list of constellations we are going to learn in class. It is believed that interactions with these nearby galaxies have had a great effect and played a key role in the star development of NGC 4449.
No comments:
Post a Comment