Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
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                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2020 November 15

                           Edge-On Galaxy NGC 5866
     Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA);
                    Acknowledgment: W. Keel (U. Alabama)

   Explanation: Why is this galaxy so thin? Many disk galaxies are just as
   thin as NGC 5866, pictured here, but are not seen edge-on from our
   vantage point. One galaxy that is situated edge-on is our own Milky Way
   Galaxy. Classified as a lenticular galaxy, NGC 5866 has numerous and
   complex dust lanes appearing dark and red, while many of the bright
   stars in the disk give it a more blue underlying hue. The blue disk of
   young stars can be seen extending past the dust in the extremely thin
   galactic plane, while the bulge in the disk center appears tinged more
   orange from the older and redder stars that likely exist there.
   Although similar in mass to our Milky Way Galaxy, light takes about
   60,000 years to cross NGC 5866, about 30 percent less than light takes
   to cross our own Galaxy. In general, many disk galaxies are very thin
   because the gas that formed them collided with itself as it rotated
   about the gravitational center. Galaxy NGC 5866 lies about 44 million
   light years distant toward the constellation of the Dragon (Draco).

                  Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
                    Tomorrow's picture: grecian skyscape
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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