Hubble Eyes a Mysterious Old Spiral
This striking cosmic whirl is the center of galaxy NGC 524, as seen with the
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy is located in the constellation of
Pisces, some 90 million light-years from Earth.
NGC 524 is a lenticular galaxy. Lenticular galaxies are believed to be an
intermediate state in galactic evolution — they are neither elliptical nor
spiral. Spirals are middle-aged galaxies with vast, pin wheeling arms that
contain millions of stars. Along with these stars are large clouds of gas and
dust that, when dense enough, are the nurseries where new stars are born. When
all the gas is either depleted or lost into space, the arms gradually fade away
and the spiral shape begins to weaken. At the end of this process, what remains
is a lenticular galaxy — a bright disc full of old, red stars surrounded by what
little gas and dust the galaxy has managed to cling on to.
This image shows the shape of NGC 524 in detail, formed by the remaining gas
surrounding the galaxy’s central bulge. Observations of this galaxy have
revealed that it maintains some spiral-like motion, explaining its intricate
structure.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy
Schmidt
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario