January 10, 2012
Light takes eight minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. It took the universe 13.8 billion years to make you.
Bright Star Regulus near the Leo I Dwarf Galaxy
Birthday · January 10, 2012
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APOD published January 10, 2012. Credit: Chris Cook (CookPhoto.com). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
The star near the top is so bright that it is sometimes hard to notice the galaxy toward the bottom. Pictured above, both the star, Regulus, and the galaxy, Leo I, can be found within one degree of each other toward the constellation of the Lion (Leo). Regulus is part of a multiple star system, with a close companion double star visible to the lower left of the young main sequence star. Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Local Group of galaxies dominated by our Milky Way Galaxy and M31. Leo I is thought to be the most distant of the several known small satellite galaxies orbiting our Milky Way Galaxy. Regulus is located about 75 light years away, in contrast to Leo 1 which is located about 800,000 light years away. Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
Image credit: Chris Cook (CookPhoto.com)