Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Cannibal Galaxy
The Hubble telescope has snapped a fascinating picture of a cannibal galaxy suffering from a bout of indigestion after it devoured a number of smaller peers. The galaxy called NGC 1316 is in the Fornax galaxy cluster 75 million light years away.
"The inner regions of the galaxy shown in the Hubble image reveal a complicated system of dust lanes and patches," Hubble astronomers said. "These are thought to be the remains of the interstellar medium associated with one or more of the spiral galaxies swallowed by NGC 1316" during the last few million years.
The NGC 1316 is a giant elliptical galaxy, not a spiral like the much smaller Milky Way, though it may have started out that way. It swelled out into a gigantic blob of dust and stars after it swallowed its first victim.
"The inner regions of the galaxy shown in the Hubble image reveal a complicated system of dust lanes and patches," Hubble astronomers said. "These are thought to be the remains of the interstellar medium associated with one or more of the spiral galaxies swallowed by NGC 1316" during the last few million years.
The NGC 1316 is a giant elliptical galaxy, not a spiral like the much smaller Milky Way, though it may have started out that way. It swelled out into a gigantic blob of dust and stars after it swallowed its first victim.
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tomas i'm hooked on your blog. send me an email at my school account (is145). ilias from athens. (do you skype?)
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