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| Galactic Giant (May 9, 2008) |
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NGC 4874, the bright blob at right in this Hubble Space Telescope image, is one of the largest and most massive galaxies in the universe, known as a cD galaxy. It is more than 300 million light-years away in the Coma Cluster, a gravitationally bound collection of thousands of galaxies. NGC 4874 spans perhaps 10 times the diameter of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and may have a trillion stars or more. [NASA/STScI/Coma HST ACS Treasury Team] |
| Crowded Neighborhood (May 8, 2008) |
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Several large galaxies highlight a small region of the Coma Cluster, a collection of thousands of galaxies about 300 million light-years away. Gravity and the pressure of clouds of hot gas between the galaxies effect the way the galaxies evolve. [NASA/STScI/Coma HST ACS Treasury Team] For more information, see our May 8 program. |
| Sharper View (May 7, 2008) |
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A bright galaxy in the Coma Cluster is disturbed by the gravity of other galaxies in the cluster, stirring up vast clouds of dark dust. The view at right is from a ground-based telescope, with the view from left from Hubble Space Telescope. [NASA/STScI/Coma HST ACS Treasury Team] For more information, see our May 7 program. |
| Glowing Galaxies (May 6, 2008) |
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The X-ray glow of million-degree gas fills the Coma Cluster of galaxies in this image from the ROSAT satellite. The gas is thicker at the center of the cluster. Some of the galaxies are visible as small red or orange points in the image. As galaxies fall toward the center of the cluster, the hot gas between galaxies strips away much of the cold gas inside the galaxies, which deprives them of the raw materials for new stars. [ROSAT/MPE/S. L. Snowden] For more information, see our May 6 radio program. |
| Galaxies Galore (May 5, 2008) |
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Galaxies of many sizes and shapes form the Coma Cluster, a gravitationally bound collection of several thousand galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. The cluster is centered about 325 million light-years away. It includes spirals, ellipticals (shaped like fuzzy footballs), and other types of galaxies. Astronomers are studying the cluster with Hubble Space Telescope to learn more about its evolution and how its tight grouping effects the evolution of individual galaxies. [NASA/STScI/Coma HST ACS Treasury Team] For more information, see our May 5 program. |
| Galactic Embrace (May 1, 2008) |
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Two galaxies are locked in a tight embrace in this recently released image from Hubble Space Telescope. The merging galaxies, which appear to wrap their spiral arms around each other, are known as Arp 272. They are about 450 million light-years away, and form part of the Hercules Cluster of galaxies. [NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/K. Noll (STScI)]
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| Shy Centaur (April 28, 2008) |
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Centaurus, the centaur, just peeks above the southern horizon on spring nights. More of the constellation becomes visible as you travel farther south; this view is from Dallas, at about 33 degrees north latitude. Highlights include Omega Centauri, the brightest globular star cluster visible in Earth's sky, and Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own. Unfortunately, Alpha Centauri is visible only from the farthest southern points in the U.S., such as Hawaii and the tips of Texas and Florida. This view is around midnight. [Tim Jones] For more information, see our April 28 program. |
| Beautiful Storms (April 25, 2008) |
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Storm systems as big as continents swirl through the atmosphere of Jupiter in this 2007 image from Hubble Space Telescope. The storms form big swirls and streamers in the planet's bands of clouds. Jupiter's internal heat drives the storms instead of energy from the Sun, which powers storms on Earth. [NASA/ESA] For more information, see our April 25 program. |
| Battered Moon (April 20, 2008) |
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Phobos, the largest moon of Mars, shows evidence of a pounding in this image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, snapped March 23 from a distance of about 4,200 miles (6,800 km). The most prominent feature, at far right, is an impact crater named Stickney. Sharp grooves and chains of smaller craters, which may be related to impact that created Stickney, radiate away from the crater. The lighter-colored material on the crater's edge may be fresher than the rest of the moon's surface. The illuminated portion of Phobos spans about 13 miles (21 km), and the image shows features as small as a house. [NASA/JPL/Univ. Arizona] |
| Drizzly Skies (April 17, 2008) |
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A swoosh of clouds slashes across the northern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan in this 2008 image from the Cassini spacecraft. The clouds are at the top center of the picture. Researchers say that a steady drizzle of liquid hydrocarbons may soak much of Titan. Flowing liquids appear to carve rivers on Titan, filling large lakes. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our April 17 program. |
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