Galaxies Away
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Data -
Hubble Legacy Archive,
Processing -
Domingo Pestana
Explanation:
This stunning group of galaxies is far, far away,
about 450 million light-years from
planet Earth
and cataloged as galaxy cluster Abell S0740.
Dominated by the cluster's large central elliptical galaxy
(ESO 325-G004), this reprocessed
Hubble
Space Telescope view takes in a
remarkable assortment of galaxy shapes and sizes with
only a few spiky foreground stars
scattered through the field.
The giant elliptical galaxy
(right of center)
spans over 100,000 light years and
contains about 100 billion stars, comparable in
size to our own spiral Milky Way galaxy.
The Hubble data can reveal a
wealth
of detail in even these distant galaxies, including
arms and dust lanes, star clusters, ring structures,
and gravitational lensing arcs.
Source: NASA