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NGC 4889 A Giant Elliptical Galaxy

NGC 4889 A Giant Elliptical Galaxy. The Coma Galaxy Cluster. The Chandra X-ray observatory estimated that the Coma Galaxy Cluster is roughly 370 million light years away. By measuring the Doppler Shift, the Coma Galaxy Cluster is receding away from us at a rate of 7,000 km / sec!.

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NGC 4889 A Giant Elliptical Galaxy

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  1. NGC 4889 A Giant Elliptical Galaxy

  2. The Coma Galaxy Cluster • The Chandra X-ray observatory estimated that the Coma Galaxy Cluster is roughly 370 million light years away. • By measuring the Doppler Shift, the Coma Galaxy Cluster is receding away from us at a rate of 7,000 km / sec!

  3. NGC 4889 / NGC 4874 • The central region contains two giant elliptical galaxies, one being NGC 4889 and the other is NGC 4874. • They are far larger than our Milky Way galaxy which is approximately 100,000 light years in diameter. • NGC 4874 is roughly 260,000 light years across and NGC 4889 has a diameter of 330,000 light years!

  4. Equipment • Telescope: 10’’ Meade LX 200 Schmidt-Cassegrain • CCD Camera: SBIG ST9XE • Date: April 15, 2008 Observing Time: 9:00pm – 12:30am

  5. The Coma Galaxy Cluster

  6. The Coma Galaxy Cluster • NGC 4889 is located in the Coma Galaxy Cluster. At first glance it seems to be a rather typical image that doesn’t inspire much awe. However, there are over a thousand known galaxies located within the cluster!

  7. Within each circle is a galaxy!

  8. How many stars? • Ms = 1.00 x 10^11 • NGCs 4889 = 3.30 x 10^11 • NGCs 4874 = 2.60 x 10^11 • 3.30 x 10^11 + 2.60 x 10^11 = 5.90 x 10^11

  9. How many stars? • Taking the fact there are about 100 billion stars in our galaxy and using a bit of mathematical extrapolation, I estimated that there are approximately 600 billion stars in these two galaxies alone! • Now taking the fact there are about 90 galaxies in this picture alone, we are looking at approximately 9 trillion stars!

  10. Are We Alone in the Universe? • With an estimated 9 trillion stars located in this image alone raises the question if we’re alone in the universe. With such an extremely large number of stars located here, it seems probable that at least one of these stars has a planetary system with the ideal conditions for life as we know it.

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