#m-74

[therealuniverse]

M74 M74 is a spiral galaxy of about 100 billion stars, 32 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces. M74's spiral arms have many bright blue star clusters and dark cosmic dust lanes. It is classified as an Sc galaxy.

The image covers half the width of the full Moon; it was obtained using 19 hours of exposure on the 1.23-metre telescope at Calar Alto Observatory in the Sierra de Los Filabres mountain range in Spain. The image encompasses 30,000 light-years across the face of M74; including exposures recording emission from hydrogen atoms. These emissions highlight the reddish glow of the galaxy's large star-forming regions. -TEL http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110406.html Credit: Descubre Foundation, Calar Alto Observatory, OAUV, DSA, V. Peris (OAUV), J. L. Lamadrid (CEFCA), J. Harvey (SSRO), S. Mazlin (SSRO), I. Rodriguez (PTeam), O. L. (PTeam), J. Conejero (PixInsight).