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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5212
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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Re: Andromeda Galaxy Lopsided?
09/22/09 09:30 AM
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It's not your imagination, M-31 is somewhat irregular because of it's proximity to M-32, M-110 and M-33 too. A wide field photograph of the entire galaxy will readily show not only is the nucleus somewhat offset from the center, it will also show the disk is warped and there is a a finger of stars extending from M-110 towards M-31. What you were most likely seeing was the inner dust lane, which appears as a sharp drop off in brightness on the side of the galaxy closest to us whereas it fades gradually on the far side. From a dark site the dust lanes are apparent and they are much more visible on the near side than the far side of the galaxy. The two smaller galaxies M-32 and M-110 are going to eventually merge with M-31 just as the Magellanic Clouds are going to merge with the Milky Way.
Taras
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