Owlscrying Posted April 5, 2009 #1 Share Posted April 5, 2009 This is the magnificent Cartwheel galaxy, a stellar structure which measures more than 100,000 light years across. It was released to promote a 24-hour webcast from observatories around the world, marking the International Year of Astronomy. The kaleidoscopic galaxy lies 500million light years from Earth, and its unusual shape is due to a catastrophic collision with one of the smaller galaxies on the lower left hundreds of millions of years ago. The smaller galaxy produced compression waves in the gas of the Cartwheel as it plunged through it, which triggered bursts of star formation, lighting up the rim. Source / Pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godsnmbr1 Posted April 5, 2009 #2 Share Posted April 5, 2009 If only our eyes could see with the same kind of vision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schizoidwoman Posted April 5, 2009 #3 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Fantastic picture and interesting story too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefinalfrontier Posted April 5, 2009 #4 Share Posted April 5, 2009 A breathtaking view, Thats awsome, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Waters Posted April 5, 2009 #5 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Just beautiful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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