March 16, 1996
The light from the farthest visible stars set out on its journey long before your first birthday.
Spiral Galaxy M90
Birthday · March 16, 1996
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
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APOD published March 16, 1996. Credit: Bill Keel (University of Alabama) 1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Spiral galaxy M90 is near the center of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies - the closest cluster of galaxies to the our own Milky Way Galaxy. Also dubbed NGC 4569, this galaxy has a very compact and bright nucleus. Because of M90's proximity and motion inside the Virgo Cluster, M90 actually shows a blueshift - indicating that it is moving toward us rather than away. Most galaxies show a redshift which indicates that they move away from us. Calibrating exactly how redshift relates to distance would indicate a scale for our universe - a topic of much debate recently. Information: The Scale of the Universe Debate in April 1996
Image credit: Bill Keel (University of Alabama) 1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory