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Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler
Explanation:
Large spiral galaxy NGC 1055 (top left) joins
spiral M77 in this
lovely
cosmic view toward the
constellation
Cetus.
The narrowed, dusty appearance of edge-on spiral NGC 1055
contrasts nicely with the face-on view of
M77's bright nucleus
and spiral arms.
Both over 100,000 light-years across, the pair are dominant members
of a small galaxy group about 60 million light-years away.
At that estimated distance,
M77 is one
of the most remote objects in
Charles
Messier's catalog and
is separated from fellow island universe NGC 1055 by at
least 500,000 light-years.
The mosaicked field is about the size of the full Moon
on the sky and
includes colorful foreground Milky Way stars (with diffraction
spikes)
along with more distant background galaxies.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
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: M 77 - galaxy pair - spiral galaxy - Messier catalog
Publications with words: M 77 - galaxy pair - spiral galaxy - Messier catalog
See also:
- APOD: 2025 September 4 Á NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
- APOD: 2025 August 28 Á Galaxies, Stars, and Dust
- APOD: 2025 August 22 Á A Tale of Two Nebulae
- APOD: 2025 August 19 Á Giant Galaxies in Pavo
- APOD: 2025 August 18 Á NGC 1309: A Useful Spiral Galaxy
- APOD: 2025 July 4 Á NGC 6946 and NGC 6939
- APOD: 2025 June 30 Á NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy