Another Stunning Hubble Space Pic!

[n2doc]

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a UFO — well, the UFO Galaxy, to be precise. NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a classic science fiction spaceship. This is why the astronomers at the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory gave it this attention-grabbing nickname.

While a bird’s eye view lets us see the detailed structure of a galaxy (such as this Hubble image of a barred spiral), a side-on view has its own perks. In particular, it gives astronomers a great opportunity to see the delicate dusty lanes of the spiral arms silhouetted against the golden haze of the galaxy’s core. In addition, brilliant clusters of young blue stars shine scattered throughout the disc, mapping the galaxy’s star-forming regions.

Perhaps surprisingly, side-on views of galaxies like this one do not prevent astronomers from deducing their structures. Studies of the properties of the light coming from NGC 2683 suggest that this is a barred spiral galaxy, even though the angle we see it at does not let us see this directly.

NGC 2683, discovered on 5 February 1788 by the famous astronomer William Herschel, lies in the Northern constellation of Lynx. A constellation named not because of its resemblance to the feline animal, but because it is fairly faint, requiring the “sensitive eyes of a cat” to discern it. And when you manage to get a look at it, you’ll find treasures like this, making it well worth the effort.
larger versions:
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1213a/

[longship]

1. Ooo! Hubble Eye Candy doesn't get better

R&

[byronius]

2. Pow!

[krispos42]

3. That is unbelievably beautiful

It looks like something from a well-done sci-fi movie.

[obxhead]

4. I wanna go!

I'm ready for my alien overlords to get here already.

[trusty elf]

5. Majestic! Sublime!

Thanks n2doc!

[corkhead]

6. my new desktop

I use 3 different PCs over the course of the day and they each have different NASA pics. Love em.


Thanks for posting

[secondvariety]

7. I love Hubble

I'm gonna miss her when she's gone.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Awesome plus 10, indeed.

[Godot51]

9. Life?

I wonder if there's intelligent life there (unlike here).

[Lucky Luciano]

10. Wouldn't it be cool if that were just one cell

...of a larger organism? I often think such zany thoughts!

[Broderick]

11. I used to and still have that thought as a possibility.

We are merely inhabitants on a neutron or something and part of a whole larger thing. Much larger. Time space dimension of sorts. Maybe the last fifteen billion years we are part of something growing, or growing older. Expanding.