Interstellar Dust Bunnies of NGC 891
What is going on in NGC 891?
This galaxy appeared previously to be very similar to our own
Milky Way Galaxy: a spiral galaxy
seen nearly edge-on.
However, recent high-resolution
images of
NGC 891's dust show unusual filamentary patterns
extending well away from its Galactic disk.
This interstellar dust
was probably thrown out of the galactic disk toward the halo by
stellar supernovae explosions.
Because dust is so fragile, its appearance after
surviving disk expulsion can be very telling. Newly discovered phenomena, however, sometimes
appear so complex that more
questions are raised than are answered.