SBIG ST-4000XCM
16x15 MinutesImager Temp -20CCelestron 9.25 Reduced 0.63
50% Crop
Link to Larger JPEGWikipedia Astronomy Picture of the Week - Week 21, 2010Astrophotogallery.org January, 2010 Hard Category WinnerAnacortes Telescope and Wild Bird Picture of the Day January 1, 2010NGC 891 is an edge on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation
Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 6 1784. The galaxy is a member of the
NGC 1023 group of galaxies in the
Local Supercluster.
The finding of large amounts of molecular hydrogen (H2) in NGC 891 has raised the question of whether
"dark matter" may be partially due to molecular hydrogen. According to two
Dutch astronomers, most or all of it may be ordinary molecular hydrogen (H2), which, unlike atomic hydrogen (H), is invisible except at certain infrared wavelengths.
NGC 891 is one of those objects that makes you wonder
how Messier missed it.
November 12, 2009