Bright red star “flowers” stand out in the new image of an unorthodox galaxy.
new picture from Hubble Space Telescope It captures an irregular dwarf galaxy called NGC 1156. NGC 1156 is located 25 million light-years from Earth in Aries, and has a unique structure unlike most others. galaxies – ‘Marvel of galactic morphology’, according to a permit from the European Space Agency (ESA), a partner in the mission.
“Thousands of bright stars evoke a spiral galaxy, but it lacks the distinctive ‘swirl’ structure,” ESA officials wrote in the statement that released the new Hubble image on August 22. The elliptical galaxy and its core are older and redder stars. “
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The bright red flowers scattered across the image represent regions of intense star formation, fueling the galaxy’s extreme energy. Streams of ionized hydrogen gas from these young stars give off a red glow.
spiral galaxies They typically show a central bulge of faint old stars surrounded by a flat, rotating disk of hot young stars. While NGC 1156 has a center densely packed with older generations of stars, its younger stars are not contained in the conspicuous spiral arms that orbit the galaxy. Because it lacks any sort of distinct shape—neither a spiral structure nor an ellipse—astronomers have classified NGC 1156 as an irregular dwarf galaxy.
However, the galaxy is also classified as isolated because there are no other galaxies It lies close enough to affect its strange shape and ongoing star formation, according to the statement.
While Hubble has previously imaged NGC 1156, the new image was captured as part of a program called Every Known Nearby Galaxy, which aims to bridge a gap in galactic observations.
“Astronomers note that only three-quarters of the galaxies within a little over 30 million light-years from Earth have been observed by Hubble in sufficient detail to study the structure of stars Inside them, “according to an ESA statement.” They suggested that among larger projects, Hubble could capture snapshots of the remaining quarter—including NGC 1156. Gap-filling programs like this one ensure that best use is made of Hubble’s observation of valuable time.”
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