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The dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 490-017. | Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Tully (University of Hawaii); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking image of an irregular dwarf galaxy.
And while this galaxy might be faint and far away, it certainly takes the spotlight in this spectacular new image.
What is it?
23 million light-years away from Earth lies the irregular dwarf galaxy ESO 490-017. Being a dwarf galaxy, it's only about 12,000 light-years across. The use of "only" here might sound strange. After all, one light-year is 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion km). However, while 12,000 light-years is ... a lot ... our own Milky Way galaxy is at least 100,000 light-years across.
In this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, we can see the faint galaxy speckled with stars with a spectacular bright star at the photo's center.
The galaxy has low surface brightness, so the stars in the image's background appear faint and almost hazy. This makes the foreground stars stand out even more, with beaming diffraction spikes emanating outward.
Hidden in the background of this photo is more than just fuzzy stars, however. The red, orange, and even beige spots in the cosmic backdrop of this image aren't just colorful stellar bodies, but rather other galaxies scattered throughout space.
The primary galaxy imaged is found in the constellation Canis Major, which contains Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
Why is it incredible?
This image was captured as part of a Hubble observing program studying galaxies and galaxy clusters as well as how they move throughout the universe. While you might think of galaxies as these stoic, far-reaching cosmic structures, they're really constantly on the move.
This image is just one piece of a larger collection of data that scientists have captured with Hubble to better understand the "cosmic flow" of galaxies and other massive structures in the universe.
This image also shows off Hubble's power. While this galaxy is very far away and fairly faint, the portrait captures it clearly, highlighting the galaxy, its stars, and even other galaxies all in one fantastic view.
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