September 9, 2013 The Cigar Galaxy, a starburst galaxy in Ursa Major Image Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (NSF) Messier 82 (also known as the Cigar Galaxy, NGC 3034 or Arp 337) is an edge-on spiral galaxy that lies [continue reading]
August 23, 2013 2MASX J05210136-2521450, a starburst galaxy Image Credit: Luca Limatola, ESA/Hubble & NASA This image shows a bright spiral galaxy that is cataloged under the name 2MASX J05210136-2521450. Behind the rather unpoetical name hides a fascinating starburst galaxy that immediately stands out by its peculiar shape. Also known as IRAS 05189-2524, it is [continue reading]
August 2, 2013 NGC 4945, a barred spiral galaxy in Centaurus Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler (http://www.robgendlerastropics.com) NGC 4945 is a barred spiral galaxy of some 80,000 across, located about 11,7 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur), while it is receding from us at approximately 563 kilometers per second. [continue reading]
July 31, 2013 NGC 6217, a spiral galaxy in Ursa Minor Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team NGC 6217 (also known as Arp 185) is a barred spiral galaxy of only about a third the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy, located about 67.2 million light-years away from Earth in the [continue reading]
Astronomers have long assumed that when a galaxy produces too many stars too quickly, it greatly reduces its capacity for producing stars in the future. Now, a group of astronomers that includes Fabian Walter from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy were able to obtain the first detailed images of this type of self-limiting [continue reading]
July 24, 2013 Messier 61, a barred spiral galaxy in Virgo Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler (http://www.robgendlerastropics.com) Messier 61 (also known as NGC 4303) is a very bright barred spiral galaxy of some 100,000 light-years across, located only about 52.5 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Virgo (the Virgin), while it [continue reading]