This week's APOD choice is called "NGC 891 Edge-on", and it features the beautiful galaxy NGC 891. From our perspective, we see the edge of this galaxy, which is why it is titled "Edge-on," and it spans nearly 100 thousand light years. Wow. The pinkish areas are actually star-forming regions. The apparent cloud surrounding the galaxy is made up of filaments of dust, that extend hundreds of light years in either direction; the likely cause of this spreading of dust is either supernova explosions or intense star formation activity. If you look closely near the center of this disk-shaped view of NGC 891, you can see a couple tiny neighboring galaxies in the surrounding region.
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