NGC 891

You are looking at a galaxy edge-on that is located 30 million light years away in the constellation Andromeda.

 

Consider our own Milky Way galaxy which is a huge disk of stars measuring 100,000 light years in diameter but only 1000 light years thick. So galaxies are quite thin relatively speaking.

 

A so-called edge-on view of a galaxy is like looking at the edge of a dinner plate and trying to see to the other side through the most dense portion. In the case of a galaxy this is mostly interstellar dust which is the dark linear region you see here. NGC 891, also referred to as the “silver sliver” galaxy, is very similar to our own Milky Way in size and luminosity.

 

The next time you see the Milky Way in a dark sky remember you are actually looking at it edge on also but this time you are on the inside looking out!

 

Image info:

Location: SkyPi Remote Observatory, Pie Town, NM US

Telescope: Officina Stellare RiDK 400

Mount: Paramount MEII

Camera: QHY600 M

Data: LRGB 3,5,4,4 hours respectively

Processing: Pixinsight

 

Done