Basic Information What is this? A red hypergiant star, nearing the end of its life Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Canis Major How big is it? About 2000 times the diameter of our Sun, about 30 times the mass How far away is it? About 5000 light years What do …
Continue reading “Spectrum of massive star VY Canis Majoris”
Basic Information What is this? A spectrum of the starburst galaxy Messier 82, with an inset showing the Herschel image of Messier 82 along with its nearby neighbour Messier 81 Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear How big is it? The galaxy is around 40,000 light …
Basic Information What is this? A portion of the Galactic Plane Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross How big is it? The image is about 2 degrees across How far away is it? Looking through the plane of the Galaxy, up to several thousand light years away …
Basic Information What is this? A spiral galaxy Where is it in the sky? In the constellation of Pisces the Fish How big is it? About the same size as our Milky Way Galaxy How far away is it? About 30 million light years What do the colours represent? This is an image taken by …
