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The Century that Defined Galaxy
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The Century that Defined Galaxy
Credit & Copyright: FORS1, 8.2-meter VLT, ESO
Explanation: As the twentieth century dawned a debate raged over whether the Milky Way was the entire universe. The 1920s brought observations of spiral-nebulae that housed familiar but faint variable stars, and hence placed these nebulae much farther than anything else ever found. The Milky Way, apparently, is itself a spiral nebula seen from the inside. Soon interstellar dust was identified as the opaque material that blocks our view of distant spiral arms, confirming that our Sun was well away from the center. As the twentieth century closes, galaxies are seen forming across the universe, and our Milky Way is referred to as a spiral galaxy quite similar to NGC 1288, as pictured above.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: century - Milky Way
Publications with words: century - Milky Way
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