M96 is the brightest
member of the "Leo I" group of galaxies.
This group
(specifically M96) is 38 million light years away. If the outermost spiral arms
are taken into account, the galaxy spans 100,000 light years in diameter. This image
also contains many smaller galaxies (some of which may be near to M96).
Most intriguing is
the edge-on galaxy at about the 10 o'clock position relative to the core of the
galaxy. Judging from its greatly reddened appearance, one might guess that this
galaxy is behind M96, and we are peering through the intervening clouds of gas
and dust (in M96) to see it. If we assume that this edge-on galaxy is roughly
the same size as M96, it would be 3-4 times more distant.
Many delicate dust
lanes near the nucleus seem to swirl inward towards the brilliant stellar core.
M96 has recently had supernovae explode in it. In this galaxy, the Hubble Space Telescope
has also directly observed Cepheid
variables, a type of pulsating star. Together these two observations are important
because they can be used to calibrate distance indicators on galactic scales
(the distance as measured by supernovae in M96 agrees with the distance as
measured by Cepheid variables). [About
the Kitt Peak Program]
--Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF
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