Odd?

• by rboerger1903

  I am just a young student, does anyone happen to know what is to the left of the galaxy?

  Posted September 23, 2015 2:01 AM

• by KWillett scientist, admin, translator

  Thanks very much for classifying!

  The small green dot to the left is a star in our own Milky Way galaxy. It's part of the real sky background that we added to the galaxy in the center, which was made using a simulation. The green color of the star is due to a combination of its temperature and emission lines from elements in the star's atmosphere.

  Posted September 23, 2015 3:10 AM

• by Vintagesky

  KWillet and what could that dusty blue object on the upper left be?

  Posted October 28, 2015 2:54 PM

• by KWillett scientist, admin, translator

  A separate galaxy, but in the same dark matter halo as the center one. It looks to be much lower mass, with more star formation and an irregular structure. Very possibly on a merging trajectory with the center galaxy; if you probe into the Illustris data, you could find its velocity information and explore whether that's the case.

  Posted October 28, 2015 5:25 PM