Check out this luminescent Hubble image featuring multiple galaxies


Devdiscourse News Desk | Paris | Updated: 25-07-2022 14:11 IST | Created: 25-07-2022 14:11 IST
Check out this luminescent Hubble image featuring multiple galaxies
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Keel

This luminescent image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features multiple galaxies, perhaps most noticeably the lone galaxy in the upper right - named LEDA 58109.

To the lower left you can see two more galactic objects - an active galactic nucleus (AGN) called SDSS J162558.14+435746.4 that partially obscures the galaxy SDSS J162557.25+435743.5, which appears to poke out to the right behind the AGN.

For the unversed, AGN is an extremely bright central region of a galaxy that is dominated by the light emitted by dust and gas as it falls into a black hole. AGNs are the most luminous persistent sources of electromagnetic radiation in the Universe. From radio waves to gamma rays, they emit radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

The diversity of galaxies in this Hubble image highlights the complex web of galaxy classifications that exist, including galaxies that house extremely luminous AGNs at their cores, and galaxies whose shapes defy the classification of either spiral or elliptical.

The lone galaxy in the upper right has different names in different catalogues. For instance, it is known as LEDA 58109 in the LEDA galaxy database while in the MCG galaxy catalogue, it is called MCG+07-34-030. The galaxy is also known as SDSS J162551.50+435747.5 in the SDSS galaxy catalogue - the same catalogue that also lists the two galaxies to the left.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international collaboration between NASA and ESA. The premium observatory was launched on 24 April 1990 and it has made more than 1.5 million observations of about 50,000 celestial objects in its 32+ years of operation.

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