We’re going galactic!⁣

           We’re going galactic!⁣ :

From today through Saturday, check in with @NASAHubble every day to discover a new galaxy image from the space telescope. Before we get started… what exactly is a galaxy, anyway?⁣

Galaxies are like massive cosmic neighborhoods, full of stars, gas, and dust all held together by gravity. They come in a variety of sizes: some might have millions of stars, while others have billions! Our home galaxy is the Milky Way, and it’s only one of the billions of galaxies in our universe.⁣

Our first new image this week shows the vibrant galaxy NGC 4654, which is around 55 million light-years away. Hubble captured this galaxy in visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light.⁣

About 500 million years ago, NGC 4654 underwent an interaction with a companion galaxy that stripped NGC 4654’s gas along its edge, limiting star formation in that region and contributing to the asymmetrical distribution of the galaxy’s stars. Scientists study galaxies like NGC 4654 to examine the connection between young stars and the cold gas from which they form.⁣

Check back in with @NASAHubble tomorrow for another new galaxy image, and visit the link in their bio for more information on NGC 4654.⁣

Image description:

 A massive, tilted spiral galaxy with a bright orange core fills the image, surrounded by large spiral arms glowing with bright blue stars and laced through with dark brown dust.⁣

Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)⁣

⁣  

   [ NASA Share this information Date : ]

                        02 October 2023