I am feeling very small, take a look at today's APOD.
How many galaxies are there in this image???
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ima...GB_hallasF.jpg
The Hercules Cluster of Galaxies
Credit & Copyright: Tony Hallas Explanation: These are galaxies of the
Hercules Cluster, an archipelago of
island universes a mere 500 million
light-years away. Also known as
Abell 2151, this cluster is loaded with gas and dust rich, star-forming
spiral galaxies but has relatively few
elliptical galaxies, which lack gas and dust and the associated newborn stars. The colors in
this remarkably deep composite image clearly show the star forming galaxies with a blue tint and galaxies with older stellar populations with a yellowish cast. The sharp picture spans about 1/2 degree across the cluster center, corresponding to over 4 million light-years at the cluster's estimated distance. In the cosmic vista many galaxies seem to be
colliding or
merging while others seem
distorted - clear evidence that
cluster galaxies commonly interact. In fact, the Hercules Cluster itself may be seen as the result of ongoing mergers of smaller galaxy clusters and is thought to be similar to
young galaxy clusters in the much more distant, early
Universe.