NGC 2683: Edge-On
Spiral Galaxy
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
Does spiral
galaxy NGC 2683 have a bar across its center? Being so nearly like our own barred Milky Way Galaxy, one
might guess it has.
Being so nearly
edge-on, however, it is hard to tell.
Either way, this gorgeous island universe,
cataloged as NGC 2683,
lies a mere 20 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the
Cat (Lynx).
NGC 2683 is seen
nearly edge-on in this cosmic
vista combining data and images from the ground-based Subaru telescope and
the space-based Hubble Space
Telescope.
More distant galaxies are
seen scattered in the background. Blended light from a large population of old
yellowish stars forms the remarkably bright galactic core.
Starlight
silhouettes the dust lanes along winding spiral arms, dotted with the telltale blue glow of young star
clusters in this
galaxy's star forming regions.
Image Credit: Subaru
Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Space Telescope; Image
Assembly, Processing, & Copyright: Robert Gendler
