NASA has shared an image of a stunning cosmic duo of galaxies, located about 215 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Pisces. The image was clicked by the Hubble Telescope, NASA’s current workhorse to study the mysteries of deep space. NASA said the galaxies appear to be collapsing, but in reality the two are far apart. The main spiral galaxy is called NGC 105 and its elongated neighbor appears to be touching the rim. However, that’s just “a circumstance of perspective,” the agency said.
Hubble Space Telescope, a joint project of NASA and ESA, was launched in 1990 and has been studying the cosmos ever since. Due to its unobstructed view of the Universe, the telescope has made more than 1.3 million observations to date, including: Cto capture distant galaxies. It has helped astronomers determine the age of the universe and monitor planets in the solar system.
“This week’s image shows a spectacular cosmic duo of galaxies,” NASA said, adding that the two galaxies are much further away than they appear in the image.
French astronomer Edouard Stephan first found NGC 105 in 1884. Not much information is available so far about its elongated neighbor. To capture this image, the Hubble team used “a vast collection of Hubble measurements examining nearby galaxies that contain two fascinating astronomical phenomena.”
These two phenomena are Cepheid variable stars, also called pulsating stars, and catastrophic supernova explosions, which occur after the death of a large star. Why are these phenomena important? They help astronomers measure the distance between different cosmic objects. This results in a better understanding of how the universe is expanding.
The Hubble often shares spectacular images of intriguing celestial objects captured with it. Last month it shared an image of a dazzling spiral galaxy called NCG 7329. The image showed a stellar vortex with yellow light concentrated in the center and blue-tinged spirals.
After more than 30 years of service, the Hubble is now aging and NASA and its international partners plan to replace it with the James Webb Space Telescope.
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