An astronomy photo highlighted by NASA this Friday (15) shows the large galaxy NGC 1055. It is spiral-type and can be found approximately 60 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Cetus, the Whale.
Galaxy NGC 1055 measures over 100,000 light-years from end to end, making it slightly larger than the Milky Way. The photo below shows the colorful and bright stars that are part of our galaxy.
You may have noticed that the galaxy NGC 1055 has pink areas in its structure; they are star-forming regions that spread between the dust belts of the galactic disk.
This portrait of the galaxy also highlights its halo, visible above and below the central disk. Perhaps this is a clue to the galaxy’s past: the halo has thin, faintly glowing structures that could be debris from a galaxy that interacted with NGC 1055 10 billion years ago.
Learn more about the galaxy NGC 1055
Spiral galaxies can be seen in all types of positions from our viewing perspective on Earth, and NGC 1055 is no different. In the photo above, it appears from the side, allowing scientists to study its general structure.
By observing the galaxy from the side, astronomers can analyze in more detail the distribution of star-forming regions and old stars. It is also easier to measure the dimensions of the galactic disk and its core.
In fact, the disk of NGC 1055 is slightly twisted and appears to show a ripple toward the core. Its structure probably became so after gravitational interactions with the neighboring galaxy Messier 77.
Source: APOD
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