APOD 4.2

This week I chose to write about M74, which is a massive spiral galaxy that is about 32 million light years away. This galaxy is positioned so that it is almost face on with our own, and so the many spirals of it can be seen very well. This galaxy is estimated to have about 100 billion stars in it, which is much larger than our own. A merge between this and a nearby galaxy can also be seen as the smaller galaxy is sucked into M74's core. Furthermore, the idea that when we see this galaxy we are actually looking 32 million years into the past is astounding, because if somebody were to look at earth from this distance they would see it without humans, but with dinosaurs and other extinct creatures. This is why I chose to write about M74 this week.