“Ali always said I would be nothing without him. But what would he have been without me?” -Joe Frazier
We don't normally think of deep-sky objects -- seemingly fixed structures in the sky -- as fighting for their lives, but when you're a spiral galaxy caught in a gravitational storm, that's exactly what you're up against!
Image credit: Blackwater Skies 2013-14, via http://www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/2013/09/widefield-in-virgo-cluster-of-….
With some 2,000 other galaxies, densely clustered towards the center, what are you to do if you're a very large spiral headed through that region at breakneck speeds? In this case, it's moving through there are some 0.5% the speed of light!
Image credit: Robert Gendler, via sky-map.org at http://server3.sky-map.org/starview?object_type=2&object_id=6333&locale….
Find out what the deal is with Messier 90, our spectacular deep-sky wonder for Messier Monday!
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Thanks so much for another MM, not sure what I will do when the series ends, its got me back out in the garden with the scope having loads of fun. Especially the M82 supernova, wow!
Perhaps the next series could be along the lines of NGCs Naughty Nights. This is a good series, so why not continue the education?