Elliptical galaxy NGC 4881 and distant galaxies

by: Nasa/Stsci/Novapix
Reference: a-gax48-81001
Date: 2006-09-11

This photo mosaic, which shows a field of distant galaxies, is a computer enhanced reproduction of a picture taken 4 March 1994 with the repaired Hubble Space Telescope. The brightest object in this picture is NGC 4881. It is a 13th-magnitude elliptical galaxy in the outskirts of the Coma Cluster, a great cluster of galaxies more than 5 times farther away than the Virgo Cluster. Except for a 16th-magnitude Coma spiral at the right and a few foreground stars of the Milky Way, nearly everything else in this field lies far beyond the Coma Cluster. There is a fascinating assortment of background galaxies, including an apparent galaxian merger in progress.

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