Hubble spots irregular spiral galaxy NGC 5486

The irregular spiral galaxy NGC 5486 hangs in opposition to a background of dim, distant galaxies on this picture from the NASA/ESA Hubble House Telescope. The tenuous disk of the galaxy is threaded via with pink wisps of star formation, which stand out from the diffuse glow of the galaxy’s shiny core.

Whereas this explicit galaxy has vague, meandering spiral arms, it lies near the a lot bigger Pinwheel Galaxy, which is likely one of the best-known examples of a ‘grand design’ spiral galaxy with outstanding and well-defined spiral arms. In 2006, Hubble captured a picture of the Pinwheel Galaxy which was, on the time, the most important and most detailed picture of a spiral galaxy ever taken with Hubble.

NGC 5486 lies 110 million light-years from Earth within the constellation Ursa Main. This remark comes from a choice of Hubble photos exploring particles left behind by Kind II supernovae. As massive stars attain the tip of their lives, they solid off enormous quantities of fuel and dust earlier than ending their lives in titanic supernova explosions.

NGC 5486 hosted a supernova in 2004, and astronomers used the eager imaginative and prescient of Hubble’s Superior Digital camera for Surveys to discover the aftermath within the hopes of studying extra about these explosive occasions.