Galaxy Zoo Talk

Bright red dot in front of galaxy, what can it be?

  • Cyzzle by Cyzzle

    Hello!

    I am new to Galaxy Zoo and i just stumbled across this object that confuses me (i am not an expert, i just have very basic astronomy knowledge and a lot of interest).
    I see a seemingly irregular galaxy, with a very bright red dot that appears to be in front of it (not in the center).

    What can it be? If it is in front of the galaxy, what can it be that is so bright and relatively small at the same time?
    Or is it actually behind the galaxy? Can something "shine through" a galaxy and still appear so luminous?
    It is very red, so i would (with my limited astronomy knowledge) conclude that it is very far away. But then it should also be relatively faint, or not?
    It also appears to have a "glow" around it.

    Can someone lighten me up on this matter?

    Posted

  • Budgieye by Budgieye moderator

    The bright orange objects are stars in our own galaxy. The red colour is due to the coolness of the stars, not due to redshift. Yes, something can shine through a galaxy, such as a more distant quasar. Here is an image of a gamma ray burst galaxy shining through a nearer galaxy.
    http://talk.galaxyzoo.org/#/subjects/AGZ0001v1g It is common for bright objects to have a ring around them. These images are heavily processed to remove cosmic rays, which can leave artifacts.

    It is fun learning about these distant galaxies. Happy hunting. 😃

    Posted