NGC 4753

This image represents approximately 1/15,000 of the total area of sky included within the Early Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The selected area, less than a quarter of the size of the full Moon, shows a luminous galaxy called NGC 4753. This galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, which is about 50 million light-years away. NGC 4753 is distinguished by an unusual, complex network of dust lanes seen projected against the light from stars in the galaxy. It is possible that the dust filaments are the shredded remains of a small spiral galaxy that was captured by a much larger elliptical galaxy.
Image credit: SDSS Collaboration

This image is also available as a 75 dpi JPG (650 x 763, 95 KB) or PNG (998 KB).

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