NGC 7814: 小草帽星系

NGC 7814: 小草帽星系

NGC 7814: Little Sombrero
Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

Explanation: Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation Pegasus and you can find this cosmic expanse of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies. NGC 7814 is centered in the sharp field of view that would almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive halos and central bulges cut by a thin disk with thinner dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000 light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing smaller and fainter only because it is farther away.

Tomorrow’s picture: a tail and a telescope

NGC 7814: 小草帽星系
影像提供与版权: Mike Selby

说明: 把望远镜指向北天的飞马座，就能见到这大片的银河恒星和遥远的星系。而位于这片清晰视野中心的星系为NGC 7814，其跨幅将近有一个满月。NGC 7814因为形似较亮而且也较著名的草帽星系M104，偶有小草帽星系之称。其实，草帽星系和小草帽星系都是侧向我们的螺旋星系，而且二者都有广袤的星系晕及被细窄尘埃带分割的庞大星系核。NGC 7814约有4千万光年远，其宽度则在6万光年左右。是以，小草帽星系的大小和较著名的草帽星系相当，而它之所以较小较暗，只缘它离我们较远。

明日的图片: a tail and a telescope