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Credit & Copyright: Rafael Sampaio
Explanation:
Within our own Milky Way galaxy, two bright, spiky stars stand
like sentinels
in the foreground of
this cosmic snapshot.
Far beyond them are the galaxies of
the Hydra Cluster.
In fact, while the spiky foreground stars are hundreds of light-years
distant, the Hydra Cluster
galaxies are well over 100 million light-years away.
Three large galaxies near the cluster center, two yellow
ellipticals
(NGC 3311, NGC 3309) and one prominent blue spiral (NGC 3312),
are the dominant galaxies, each about 150,000 light-years in diameter.
An intriguing overlapping galaxy pair cataloged as
NGC 3314 lies
above and left of NGC 3312.
Also known as Abell 1060, the Hydra galaxy cluster is one of three large
galaxy clusters within 200 million light-years of the Milky Way.
In the
nearby universe,
galaxies are gravitationally bound into clusters which themselves are
loosely bound
into superclusters.
Superclusters in turn are seen to align over even larger
scales.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy - galaxy cluster
Publications with words: spiral galaxy - galaxy cluster
See also:
- APOD: 2026 May 29 Á Messier 104
- APOD: 2026 April 5 Á NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
- APOD: 2026 March 16 Á NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy
- Webb and Hubble: IC 5332
- APOD: 2026 February 4 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
- IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis