Galaxy NGC 4414



NGC 4414 is a massive spiral galaxy some 62 million 
light years distant toward the constellation Coma 
Berenices. The Hubble Space Telescope obtained this 
image in 1995 and 1999. The observations were used to 
detect, identify, and measure Cepheid variable stars in 
the galaxy, from which an accurate measure of the 
distance of the galaxy can be inferred. Combining 
measures of the distance and recession speed of a galaxy 
provides a measure of the expansion rate of the 
universe, which has implications for setting the 
distance and time scales of the universe. The outer 
regions of the galaxy appear blue because they contain 
young, high-mass blue, stars. Dark patches of obscuring 
dust are also evident in the spiral arms of the galaxy.