Search Results for ‘distant galaxies’
Galaxies Far Far Away
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA A swarm of blue stars makes up the faint dwarf galaxy ESO 540-030 in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Explore the loose group of stars and the many types of far-off galaxies in the background. If you see four sharp lines shooting away from the star, that is a sign of a star between Earth and the distant galaxy. It is caused by light bending in the optics within the Hubble Space Telescope. What shapes and patterns do you see? Leave a note below. Generally dwarf galaxies are dim. With their stars spread out and little gas and dust to fuel new star formation, they can be hard for astronomers to see and study. ESO 540-030 is part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies. ESO 540-030 is right in our backyard, just 11 million light-years from Earth. The Sculptor Group is the closest galaxy group to our own Local Group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way Galaxy. The closest galaxy of the group is just a mere 5 million light-years away. It has taken light, traveling at more than 6 trillion miles per year, five million years to reach our eyes on Earth. Because of it closeness, the Sculptor Group contains some of the brightest galaxies in the southern sky. Many types of galaxies are found in this image. We see spirals, barred spirals, ellipticals and irregular galaxies. Some can be found peering through ESO 540-030 itself. Are you up for the challenge? Cataloging galaxy types is important because it helps scientists understand how the Universe evolved.
Cobra Galacticus
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University) Slithering amongst a background of distant galaxies, a cobra-shaped group of galaxies gets set to strike in this image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Explore the image of Zwicky II 96. What shapes and stories do you see in this image? Leave us a note below. At least three galaxies seem to be merging in this image. The top galaxy still has a strong spiral shape. The spiral arms of the other two galaxies are twisted and stretched. When galaxies merge, gas and dust at the edges gets pulled like taffy. Gas clouds collide and sometimes if enough gas and dust come together in one place, the dust cloud collapses under gravity to form a new star. Blue streamers between the galaxies show that this is happening in Zw II 96. Astronomers call this explosion of star formation a starburst. Spots of hot, new stars can be seen also in the tail of the bottom galaxy as well as the leading edge of the galaxy at the top. Take a tour of the dozens of interesting, far-off background galaxies in the image. Zw II 96, also known as IRAS 20550+1656 and LEDA 65779, is found in the constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin, about 500 million light years from Earth. When light left this galaxy during the Cambrian period on Earth, life was booming in the warm, shallow seas. Little, if no life lived on the barren, desert-like land. The continents we are familiar with were clustered into one large supercontinent.
Solving a mystery
Credit: NASA, ESA, E. Jullo (JPL/LAM), P. Natarajan (Yale) and J-P. Kneib (LAM). Sometimes what we can't see is as important as what we can. Using new techniques, astronomers are helping solve the big mystery of dark energy in the Universe and perhaps its ultimate fate. Explore the image of Abell 1689 from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The purple area is the scientists' layout of gravitational lens made up of both visible matter and dark matter. The purple haze is a visualization. Scientists use this sort of visual overlay to help us see what is there but not visible. Light from the distant galaxies is bent by the dark matter in the cluster producing arcs and other distorted views of the galaxies. The massive galaxy cluster, about 2.2 billion light years from Earth, warps the light of background galaxies, curving and distorting their light. Astronomers call this gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing is similar to the way a magnifying lens distorts how we see an object. The immense gravity from this cluster is so strong, it bends the beams of light coming from distant galaxies. The warping of space is a confirmation of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Astronomers were able to study the light from these bent, dim galaxies. They could reconstruct the path the light takes between the far-off galaxies before finally reaching Earth. Studying these paths and the way objects are bent by the galaxy cluster offers clues into the geometry of space and any effects from stuff we cannot see, such as dark energy.
A Squid in the Darkness
NASA/ESA Hubble A blue and gold squid-shaped galaxy glitters with other galaxies in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. StarryCritters is all about seeing patterns in the stars. ESO 149-3 is an irregular galaxy that appears to be shaped like a squid with a dim smattering of stars hanging below. Irregular galaxies lack the shape and structure of more well known spiral and elliptical galaxies. They also tend to be much smaller. Nearly one-quarter of all galaxies are irregular galaxies. The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, companions to our Milky Way Galaxy, are irregular galaxies. Blue stars in ESO 149-3 are hot young stars probably born as the galaxy interacted with another. Gold stars are older stars like our Sun. ESO 149-3 is found fairly nearby at about 20 million light-years from Earth toward the southern constellation Phoenix. Zoom deep into the image and spy more distant galaxies of all shapes scattered throughout the image. Send as an ECard
Spiral in a glittering galaxy
NASA/ESA Hubble A spiral galaxy peeps through a sparkling array of stars in this image of ESO 318-13 from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Explore the dazzling spray of stars and far-off galaxies; take in the objects near and far. What shapes or stories do you see? Leave a note in the comments below. Galaxies after all are mostly empty space. Light-years separate stars and if dark dust clouds don't obscure the view, the galaxies become mostly transparent allowing distant background galaxies to shine through. Pan to the center of the galaxy and you'll find a bright star right in the middle. The stars of ESO 318-13 are brilliant in this image but they don't compare to to the bright star that is actually much closer to Earth within our Milky Way Galaxy. Several bright stars are also members of our galaxy. ESO 318-13 is an irregular dwarf galaxy millions of light-years from Earth. In this image, we see the galaxy along its edge. Although the stars are brilliant and crystal clear, the beautiful image doesn't show us much of the galaxy's structure. We do find many distant galaxies with distinct spiral and elliptical shapes scattered throughout the image. ESO 318-13 is located toward the southern constellation Antlia, the Pump. French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille created this constellation in 1756 to commemorate the air pump. The constellation faces away from the Milky Way Galaxy and toward deeps space and has no bright stars. Send as an ECard
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