星系NGC 1055
Portrait of NGC 1055
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy’s thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bluge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.
Tomorrow’s picture: Postcard from the North
星系NGC 1055
影像提供与版权: Martin Pugh
说明: 位在鲸鱼座方向，距离我们只有6千万光年远的庞大美丽螺旋星系NGC 1055，是一个小星系群最大的成员星系。这个侧向我们、大小约为100,000光年的宇宙岛，略大于我们的银河系。在上面这幅NGC 1055影像里，彩色带星芒的恒星是在我们银河系内的前景恒星。不过，带着特征粉红色泽的恒星形成区，则散布在这个遥远星系纤薄盘面的蜿蜒尘埃带上。在这张深空影像里，除了记录了更遥远的星系之外，还呈现了延伸到NGC 1055的鼓核和盘面上下的盒状星系晕。这些带着黯淡条状结构的星系晕，可能是约100亿年前被这个庞大星系拆散的伴星系之零散碎片。
明日的图片: Postcard from the North
