The Week in Space

February 16-22, 2009

Well-Defined Arms   M74, also called NGC 628, is a stunning example of a spiral galaxy that is viewed by Earth observers nearly face-on. Its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms (which make it a “grand design” galaxy) emanate from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars. Visible in this Hubble image are a number of bright pink regions in the spiral arms. These are huge, relatively short-lived clouds of hydrogen gas which glow due to the strong radiation from hot, young stars embedded within them. M74 is about 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces, the Fish. It is the dominant member of a small group of about half a dozen galaxies. In its entirety, it is estimated that M74 is home to about 100 billion stars, making it slightly smaller than our Milky Way.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Weekly Calendar

February 16-22, 2009

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 16

Presidents’ Day 

Last Quarter Moon 4:37 pm

1948: Gerard Kuiper discovers Miranda, moon of Uranus
1965: Saturn SA-9 launched

Tuesday 17

Mars 0.6° south of Jupiter
Antares 0.04° south of Moon

1959: Vanguard 2 launched
1965: Ranger 8 launched
1996: NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft launched
2007: THEMIS spacecraft launched

Wednesday 18

Thursday 19

Venus at greatest illuminated extent
Moon at apogee

1473: Nicholas Copernicus born
1986: Mir space station launched

Friday 20

Saturday 21

Sunday 22

Mercury 1.1° south of Moon
Jupiter 0.7° south of Moon

1966: Cosmos 110 launched, sets record for dogs in space (22 days)
1978: First Navstar GPS satellite launched
1996: STS-75 Columbia launched
2006: Hubble Space Telescope discovers two new moons of Pluto

---

Article Tools - Share, subscribe, and bookmark this page: