May 15, 2008
The Earth has carried you around the Sun again, steady as ever, while the stars kept their patient watch.
Sideways Galaxy NGC 3628
Birthday · May 15, 2008
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published May 15, 2008. Credit: Keith Quattrocchi. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Dark dust lanes cut across the middle of this gorgeous island universe, a strong hint that NGC 3628 is a spiral galaxy seen sideways. About 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo, NGC 3628 also bears the distinction of being the only member of the well known Leo triplet of galaxies not in Charles Messier's famous catalog. Otherwise similar in size to our Milky Way Galaxy, the disk of NGC 3628 is clearly seen to fan out near the edges. A faint arm of material also extends to the left in this sharp and deep view of the region. The distorted shape and faint tidal tail suggest that NGC 3628 is interacting gravitationally with the other spiral galaxies in the Leo triplet, M66 and M65.
Image credit: Keith Quattrocchi