2009 AUSTRALIA

STARGAZING: THE SOUTHERN SKIES

This stamp issue is being released during the International Year of Astronomy.

Sombrero Galaxy M104 

The Sombrero takes its common name from the broad-brimmed Mexican hat it resembles. Despite its appearance it is a spiral galaxy, one of the largest in the Virgo constellation. It has a large 

central bulge, the light of which is dominated by the billions of old faint stars around a small hidden nucleus. It is seen almost edgeon and the bulge is encircled by a lane of dust, giving M104 its distinctive hatlike look.  

 Reflection Nebula M78  

Nebulae are clouds of gas, mainly hydrogen and helium, often mixed with tiny dust grains. M78 is one of the brightest diffuse reflection nebulae in the sky, one of many such objects in the constellation of Orion. It belongs to a vast dusty cloud centred on the Orion nebula, and it is also a star-forming nursery. 

Spiral Galaxy M83 

M83 is located in the Hydra constellation and is sometimes known as the “southern pinwheel”. It is a fine example of a “grand design” galaxy and is thought to be much like our own, the Milky Way. This image is taken from above one of its poles, its trailing spiral arms showing reddish star-forming regions alternating with bluish young star clusters and dark lanes of dust. The concentrated central region of the galaxy comprises older, yellow stars.