Spiral Galaxy, NGC 300, Caldwell 70
NGC 300 is a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy. It is a member of a nearby group of galaxies known as the Sculptor group, named for the southern constellation where the group can be found. The distance to NGC 300 is million light-years, making it one of the Milky Way's closer neighbors. With a resolution some 10 times better than ground-based telescopes, Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) resolves many more stars in this galaxy than can be detected from the ground. The color composite was made from filtered images taken in blue, green, and infrared light. Hot, young blue stars appear in clusters that form in the galaxy's spiral arms. Ribbons of deep red stars mark the location of gauzy curtains of dust that partially hide the light of the stars behind them. Near the center of the image is the bright and compact nucleus of the galaxy where even the ACS loses the ability to separate the densely packed stars. Some of the luminous blue specks in this image, young and massive stars called blue supergiants, are among the brightest stars seen in spiral galaxies like NGC 300.
Size: 3000px × 4728px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -1, 2000s, 21st, 70, 300, 2002, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, binary, black, body, caldwell, celestial, century, deep, galaxies, galaxy, heavenly, hole, hst, hubble, image, ngc, ngc300, object, science, sky, space, spiral, system, telescope, wolf-rayet
