Explanation:
Some 50 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841
can be found in the northern constellation of
Ursa Major.
This sharp view of the
gorgeous island universe
shows off a striking yellow nucleus and galactic disk with tightly
woundspiral arms.
NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000 light-years, even larger than
our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
The galaxy's dust lanes and turbulent star-forming regions are found
along the spiral arms, but
X-ray images
suggest that resulting winds and stellar explosions create
plumes of hot gas extending into a halo around NGC 2841.
Of course, the prominent stars with a
spiky appearance in
the picture are close foreground objects within the Milky Way
and not associated with
NGC 2841.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080329.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
