Spiral galaxy NGC 7331 [
http://www.seds.org…] is often touted as an analog to our own Milky Way [
http://cassfos02.uc…]. About 50 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus [
http://hawastsoc.or…], NGC 7331 was recognized early on as a spiral nebula [
http://www.seds.org…] and is actually one of the brighter galaxies [
http://www.seasky.o…] not included in Charles Messier's famous [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] 18th century catalog. Since the galaxy's disk is inclined [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] to our line-of-sight, long telescopic exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth. The effect is further enhanced in this well-framed view by the galaxies that lie beyond this beautiful island universe [
http://www.astr.ua.…galaxies.text ]. The background galaxies are about one tenth the apparent size [
http://chandra.harv…] of NGC 7331 and so lie roughly ten times farther away.
Explanation
Spiral galaxy NGC 7331 [
http://www.seds.org…] is often touted as an analog to our own Milky Way [
http://cassfos02.uc…]. About 50 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus [
http://hawastsoc.or…], NGC 7331 was recognized early on as a spiral nebula [
http://www.seds.org…] and is actually one of the brighter galaxies [
http://www.seasky.o…] not included in Charles Messier's famous [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] 18th century catalog. Since the galaxy's disk is inclined [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] to our line-of-sight, long telescopic exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth. The effect is further enhanced in this well-framed view by the galaxies that lie beyond this beautiful island universe [
http://www.astr.ua.…galaxies.text ]. The background galaxies are about one tenth the apparent size [
http://chandra.harv…] of NGC 7331 and so lie roughly ten times farther away.
Explanation
