The Hubble team has unveiled a breathtaking new series of images showcasing the majestic Spiral Galaxy NGC 1961, featuring NASA/ESA Hubble’s cosmic insights.
This Hubble image depicts the Spiral Galaxy NGC 1961. Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble/J. Dalcanton/RJ Foley, UC Santa Cruz/C. Kilpatrick.
NGC 1961 is located about 190 million light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis.
This spiral galaxy spans 240,000 light-years, making it the largest member of a small group of ten galaxies.
NGC 1961 was first discovered by German and British astronomer William Herschel on December 3, 1788.
French astronomer Guillaume Bigon observed the galaxy on December 22, 1891, and it was cataloged as IC 2133.
NGC 1961 displays a distinctive perturbation that led to its classification as ARP 184.
“The designation ARP 184 is derived from Halton Arp’s 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies,” the Hubble astronomers noted.
“The 338 galaxies listed in the Atlas often exhibit unusual shapes, lacking perfect oval or spiral forms.”
“Many of these galaxies are in interaction with others, while some show characteristics of duster galaxies without well-defined structures.”
“ARP 184 earned its spot in the catalog due to its prominent, elongated spiral arm extending towards us,” they elaborated.
“The galaxy’s far side shows clusters of gas and stars but lacks a similarly impressive spiral arm.”
The latest images of NGC 1961 include optical and near-infrared data captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
“This Hubble image merges data from three short observation programs that fit into time gaps between other proposals,” the astronomer explained.
“One of these programs focuses on ARP 184 due to its unique structure.”
“It reviewed galaxies in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, compiled by Halton Arp and Barry Madore, among others, along with catalogues of singular galaxies in the southern hemisphere.”
The remaining two programs aimed to study transient astronomical events, including supernovae and tidal disruption phenomena.
“Given that ARP 184 has hosted four known supernovae in the past 30 years, it has become a prime target for supernova research.”
Source: www.sci.news
