                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2021 July 22

                  NGC 7814: Little Sombrero with Supernova
                   Image Credit & Copyright: CHART32 Team,

   Explanation: Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation
   Pegasus and you can find this expanse of Milky Way stars and distant
   galaxies. NGC 7814 is centered in the pretty field of view that would
   almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the
   Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104,
   the Sombrero Galaxy. Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral
   galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive halos and central bulges
   cut by a thin disk with thinner dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC
   7814 is some 40 million light-years away and an estimated 60,000
   light-years across. That actually makes the Little Sombrero about the
   same physical size as its better known namesake, appearing smaller and
   fainter only because it is farther away. In this telescopic view from
   July 17, NGC 7814 is hosting a newly discovered supernova, dominant
   immediately to the left of the galaxy's core. Cataloged as SN 2021rhu,
   the stellar explosion has been identified as a Type Ia supernova,
   useful toward calibrating the distance scale of the universe.

                       Tomorrow's picture: cosmic zoo
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.


