Hubble Snaps Image of Triple Galaxy, as Ordered by the People

Wow...

Simply beautiful. What an amazing universe we live in. One of the more amazing formations I've seen.

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The Hubble Space Telescope took a closer look at this triple galaxy group on April 1 and 2 after 140,000 people around the world voted on six potential targets. The areas have previously only been photographed by ground-based telescopes.

The Arp 274 galaxy group won the competition with more than 67,000 votes. Hubble's image suggests the galaxies may not be close enough together to interact as they appear to be in the image taken by the Palomar Observatory near San Diego.

The galaxies to the right and left show blueish lights, evidence of rapid star formation. Older stars are more yellow. The group is located in the constellation Virgo, 400 million light years away from Earth. The two bright stars at the right of the image are actually located in our own galaxy.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


That is beautiful. I've always wondered just how much we haven't seen in this universe and in our own galaxy.

I'm wondering how those two bright stars to the right can be in our own galaxy

Thanks for the picture DimensionalDetective.

Cool image.

It always boggles my mind to see just how vast the universe is. It's actually quite ridiculous how big it is -- no really, it's huge. Enormous. Words can't even describe it, and no person can fully grasp the enormity. It's even bigger than that.

How Big is Our Universe?

Stunningly beautiful...and I agree, it boggles the mind. I often wonder how much further advanced our space technologies would be if we colud rise above our petty politics and see the value in something as complex as this image.

What does it tell us about ourselves? What truths are uncovered from deep within when we simply look at the expanse of other galaxies?

Imagine if we did not have to have a vote to detemine what to focus the hubble on, but could have multiple powerful telescopes to see all we desire?

There is much truth to be revealed in space. Thanks for the awesome image, snapped me back to the "real" reality for today.

Gorgeous catch.

We're privileged to be living in a time where we have the technology to see such wonders. It's a shame all the telescopes can't be opened up more frequently to public viewing, especially when there are literally tens of billions of these wondrous formations to be seen...

I spent some time helping to classify galaxies on www.galaxyzoo.org... I suggest you do too... every picture is a new unclassified Galaxy containing billions of stars... mind boggling.

... never forget:



[edit on 8-4-2009 by Pr0t0]

Those red H-2 Regions are really stunning, those are groups of nebulosity where star formation will likely occur.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

Cool Another stunning Hubble image for the 'pictures folder' on my HD. The reference to the 'blue' stars being part of our galaxy reminded me of this recent image of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/384bedd3270e.jpg[/atsimg]

It's a close neighbor and unusual by dint of it getting closer to the Milky Way rather than moving away. Several of the 'blue' stars are on the outer edge of the Milky Way and it gives it a more subjective perspective IMHO.

Originally posted by Solarskye
reply to post by DimensionalDetective

 

That is beautiful.

I've always wondered just how much we haven't seen in this universe and in our own galaxy.

I'm wondering how those two bright stars to the right can be in our own galaxy

Thanks for the picture DimensionalDetective.

They just happened to be in the field of view look at them they look discs and not just a piont of light!

that big bright red nebulous region in your image of the Triangulum galaxy, is NGC 604. something that can be seen even with an 8 or 10 inch telescope. it is actually possible to see individual stars in M33 with a small scope. In fact from a dark sky, M33 is fairly easy to see naked eye for someone with good eyesight.