Figure: M74: The Perfect Spiral
If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the
most photogenic. An island universe of about 100 billion stars, 30 million
light-years away toward the constellation Pisces, NGC 628 or M74 presents a
gorgeous face-on view to earthbound astronomers.
Classified as an Sc galaxy,
the grand design of M74's graceful spiral arms traced by bright blue star
clusters and dark cosmic dust lanes, is similar in many respects to our own
home galaxy, the Milky Way.
Recorded with a 28 million pixel detector array,
this impressive image celebrates first light for the Gemini Multi-Object
Spectrograph (GMOS), a state-of-the-art instrument now operational at the
8-meter Gemini North telescope. The Gemini North Observatory gazes into the
skies above Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA, while its twin observatory, Gemini
South, is scheduled to begin operations later this year from Cerro Pachon in
central Chile.
Credit: Gemini Observatory, GMOS Team
original and other galaxy images at: http://www.aip.de/gallery/galaxies/index.html