Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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 October 28
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                               Mirach's Ghost
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]John Chumack

   Explanation: [5]As far as ghosts go, Mirach's Ghost isn't really that
   [6]scary. Mirach's Ghost is just a faint, fuzzy galaxy, well known to
   astronomers, that happens to be seen nearly along the line-of-sight to
   [7]Mirach, a bright star. [8]Centered in this star field, Mirach is
   also called Beta Andromedae. About 200 light-years distant, Mirach is a
   [9]red giant star, cooler than the Sun but much larger and so
   intrinsically much brighter than our parent star. In most telescopic
   views, glare and [10]diffraction spikes tend to hide things that lie
   near Mirach and make the faint, fuzzy galaxy look like a ghostly
   internal reflection of the almost overwhelming starlight. Still,
   appearing in [11]this sharp image just above and to the right of
   Mirach, Mirach's Ghost is cataloged as galaxy [12]NGC 404 and is
   estimated to be some 10 million light-years away.

                      Tomorrow's picture: just the dust
     __________________________________________________________________

      [13]< | [14]Archive | [15]Submissions | [16]Index | [17]Search |
   [18]Calendar | [19]RSS | [20]Education | [21]About APOD | [22]Discuss |
                                    [23]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2110/Mirach_NGC404ChumackHRweb.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.galacticimages.com/blog/
   5. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Old_Astronomer
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/new-nasa-posters-feature-cosmic-frights-for-halloween
   7. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/Sow/mirach.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150926.html
   9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_giant
  10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction_spike
  11. https://www.galacticimages.com/mirach-beta-andromedae-ngc-404-mirachs-ghost/
  12. http://arxiv.org/abs/1003.4985
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211027.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211028
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211029.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/