صورة اليوم الفلکیة
NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Vikas Chander
Explanation:
Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521
is a mere 35 million light-years away,
toward the northern
springtime constellation Leo.
Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is
easily visible in small telescopes but often overlooked by
amateur imagers in favor of other Leo spiral galaxies,
like M66 and M65.
It's hard to overlook in this colorful cosmic portrait though.
Spanning some 50,000 light-years the galaxy sports
characteristic
patchy, irregular spiral arms laced with dust, pink star forming regions,
and
clusters of young, blue stars.
The deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in fainter,
gigantic, bubble-like shells.
The shells are likely tidal debris, streams of stars torn
from satellite galaxies that have
undergone mergers
with NGC 3521 in the distant past.