NGC 738 facts for kids
NGC 738 is a fascinating lenticular galaxy located in the Triangulum constellation. Imagine a giant cosmic pancake! That's a bit like what a lenticular galaxy looks like. This galaxy is incredibly far from our own Milky Way galaxy, about 201 million light-years away. That's a distance so huge it's hard to even picture!
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What is a Galaxy?
A galaxy is a massive group of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter, all held together by gravity. Think of it as a huge island of stars in the vast ocean of space. There are billions of galaxies in the universe, and they come in different shapes and sizes.
Types of Galaxies
Scientists usually group galaxies into a few main types based on their shape:
- Spiral galaxies: These look like giant pinwheels with arms spiraling out from a central bulge. Our Milky Way galaxy is a spiral galaxy!
- Elliptical galaxies: These are more like giant, round or oval-shaped blobs of stars. They don't have clear spiral arms.
- Irregular galaxies: These galaxies don't have a regular shape. They might look a bit messy, perhaps because they've been pulled out of shape by other galaxies nearby.
- Lenticular galaxies: NGC 738 is one of these! They are a bit of a mix between spiral and elliptical galaxies. They have a central bulge and a disk, like a spiral galaxy, but they don't have clear spiral arms. They often look like a lens or a flat disk without much new star formation happening.
Where is NGC 738 Located?
NGC 738 is found in the Triangulum constellation. A constellation is a group of stars that form a pattern in the night sky, often named after animals, mythological figures, or objects. The Triangulum constellation is named after a triangle shape, which is what its brightest stars form.
Finding Triangulum
The Triangulum constellation is a small one, but it's home to some interesting galaxies, including the famous Triangulum Galaxy (M33), which is much closer to us than NGC 738. You can usually spot Triangulum in the northern sky, not too far from the Andromeda constellation.
How Far is 201 Million Light-Years?
When we say NGC 738 is 201 million light-years away, it means the light we see from it today started its journey 201 million years ago! A light-year is the distance light travels in one year. Light travels incredibly fast – about 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second!
A Trip Through Time
Because light takes so long to reach us from distant galaxies, when we look at NGC 738, we are actually seeing it as it was 201 million years ago. Imagine what was happening on Earth back then! Dinosaurs were roaming the planet. It's like looking back in time!
