Interesting Photo of the Day: The Needle Galaxy

Astrophotography  •  Interesting Photos

While it’s a challenge for us to even imagine the vastness of our own galaxy, there could be millions of more galaxies out there. What we’ve been able to explore today is just a tiny fraction of what exists. To give a sense of how crazy the world is there out there, have a look at the following image that astrophotographer Teagan Grable took:

“The Needle Galaxy” by Teagan Grable (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)

Grable took the image using the ASI1600mm-c camera on the Orion 10″ f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph Reflector Telescope, mounted on the iOptron CEM 60 equatorial mount. This image has a total of 26 hours of exposure time.

The Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565), which is a giant spiral galaxy, lies 40,000,000 light-years away in the constellation Coma Bernices. What’s interesting about this galaxy is its slim profile and the fact that it’s more luminous than the Andromeda Galaxy – the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.

Look at the background and you can see how it’s littered with so many more galaxies. Interestingly, they all lie hundreds of millions of light-years farther away. How crazy is that? And now, to continue wondering about the vastness of our universe.