This NASA/ESA Hubble Area Telescope picture reveals a spiral galaxy often known as NGC 7331. First noticed by the prolific galaxy hunter William Herschel in 1784, NGC 7331 is situated about 45 million light-years away within the constellation of Pegasus (The Winged Horse). Going through us partially edge-on, the galaxy showcases it’s stunning arms which swirl like a whirlpool round its vibrant central area.
Astronomers took this picture utilizing Hubble’s Extensive Area Digital camera 3 (WFC3), as they had been observing a unprecedented exploding star — a supernova — which may nonetheless be faintly seen as a tiny purple dot close to the galaxy’s central yellow core. Named SN2014C, it quickly advanced from a supernova containing little or no Hydrogen to 1 that’s Hydrogen-rich — in only one yr. This hardly ever noticed metamorphosis was luminous at excessive energies and supplies distinctive perception into the poorly understood last phases of huge stars.
NGC 7331 is comparable in measurement, form, and mass to the Milky Manner. It additionally has a comparable star formation price, hosts the same variety of stars, has a central supermassive black gap and comparable spiral arms. The first distinction between our galaxies is that NGC 7331 is an unbarred spiral galaxy — it lacks a “bar” of stars, gasoline and dirt reducing via its nucleus, as we see within the Milky Manner. Its central bulge additionally shows a unusual and strange rotation sample, spinning in the other way to the galactic disc itself.
By learning related galaxies we maintain a scientific mirror as much as our personal, permitting us to construct a greater understanding of our galactic setting which we can’t all the time observe, and of galactic behaviour and evolution as a complete.
Picture Credit score: ESA/Hubble & NASA/D. Milisavljevic (Purdue College)
Clarification from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/photos/potw1805a/
