NASA has released a beautiful photo of spiral galaxy NGC 4423 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
This Hubble image shows spiral galaxy NGC 4423 about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Sun.
NGC4423 It is located in the constellation Virgo, about 55 million light years away.
Also known as IRAS 12246+0609, LEDA 40801, or VCC 971, this spiral galaxy is approximately 35,000 light-years in diameter.
beginning spotted Discovered on April 13, 1784 by German-born British astronomer William Herschel, NGC 4423 is a member of the Virgo cluster.
“In the new image, NGC 4423 appears to have a highly irregular, tubular shape, so it may be surprising to learn that it is actually a spiral galaxy,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“Knowing this, we can distinguish between the galaxy's denser central bulge and the less dense surrounding disk, which makes up the spiral arms.”
“If you looked at NGC 4423 head-on, it would resemble the shape we most associate with spiral galaxies: a spectacular curve spreading out from a bright center and interspersed with darker, dimmer, less populated regions. This is the arm you are drawing.”
“However, when observing the sky, we are constrained by the relative position of the earth and the object we are observing. We cannot simply change the position of the earth to get a better view of NGC 4423 head-on. .”
“Of course, celestial bodies are not stationary in space; they often move at very high speeds relative to each other.”
“This may suggest that even if the galaxy is moving in a coincidental direction relative to Earth, if you travel far enough you may be able to see it from a substantially different perspective. I don’t know.”
“While this is theoretically possible, in reality the distances in the universe are too long and human lifespans are too short for significant differences in relative alignment to occur.”
“In other words, this is more or less the view of NGC 4423 that we will always have.”
New images of NGC 4423 consist of observations from. Hubble's advanced survey camera (ACS) in the near-infrared and optical portions of the spectrum.
This is based on data obtained through two filters. Color is obtained by assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
Source: www.sci.news
