Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to create two stunning images of NGC 5253, a dwarf starburst galaxy and a possible blue compact dwarf galaxy.
This Hubble Space Telescope image shows NGC 5253, a blue compact dwarf galaxy about 11 million light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Zezas / D. Calzetti.
NGC 5253 It is located in the constellation Centaurus, about 11 million light years from Earth.
This galaxy, also known as ESO 445-4, IRAS 13370-3123, LEDA 48334, and UGCA 369, is discovered It was discovered on March 15, 1787 by German-born British astronomer William Herschel.
The galaxy is thought to be part of the Centaurus A/Messier 83 galaxy group, which also includes the well-known radio galaxy Centaurus A and the spiral galaxy Messier 83.
The first new images of NGC 5253 Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) wide-field channel, Wide-field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2).
The second image is High Resolution Channels (HRC) of ACS Instruments.
This Hubble image was taken with the High Resolution Channel (HRC) of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) showing NGC 5253. Image courtesy of NASA / ESA / Hubble / WD Vacca.
“What was it about this galaxy that fascinated us so much that we studied it intensively for more than a decade using three of the Hubble Space Telescope’s instruments?” the Hubble astronomers said.
“It turns out that Hubble’s capabilities are the focus of several research areas that are essential.”
“Dwarf galaxies are thought to be important for understanding the evolution of stars and galaxies over time because they resemble ancient, distant galaxies.”
“NGC 5253 has been called both a starburst galaxy and a blue compact dwarf. These names refer to the fact that this galaxy is forming a population of bright, massive stars at an exceptional rate.”
“This Hubble Space Telescope image clearly shows the dense nebula that is being consumed to give birth to these stars, making NGC 5253 a laboratory for studying stellar composition, star formation and star clusters all at once.”
“Very high star formation rates are essential for the formation of star clusters, but NGC 5253 goes beyond that. Star formation is so active in a small region of the central core that the galaxy contains more than three superclusters.”
“Superclusters are extremely luminous, dense and massive open clusters that are thought to evolve into globular clusters,” the researchers said.
“Globular clusters themselves provide unique insights into how stars form and evolve, but their origins are poorly understood.”
“So we wanted to take advantage of the excellent resolution of HRC’s auxiliary instruments to zero in on these small, very dense clusters.”
Source: www.sci.news
