Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/S.Randall et al., Optical: SDSS

The image above may have a familiar feel to it, but looks are sometimes deceiving, for this featured image is a bit different than those we typically use. Instead of zeroing in on a nebula or a distant galaxy, and showing off its physical features, you can kind of think of this as a weather map of some sorts, taken of an elliptical galaxy found approximately 105 million light-years from Earth.

Called NGC 5813, the galaxy in question belongs to a small galaxy group, and it happens to be the anchor that binds them together. This image essentially represents the weather forecast, particularly the temperature, and the subtle variations of it, of this galaxy group. The hottest regions are depicted in red, whilst the cooler ones can be seen in yellow, blue, green and red (even the coolest are millions of degrees).

 


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