Hubble Space Telescope captures inclined spiral galaxy | Science News

The Hubble Space Telescope captured NGC 3511, an inclined spiral galaxy 43 million light-years away in Crater, tilted at 70 degrees, revealing fuzzy spiral arms, stellar nurseries with bright blue stars, and a core of older, redder stars. The observation, part of a survey of 55 local galaxies, uses specific red-light filters to study star formation and galaxy evolution.

NGC 3511 captured by Hubble. (Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker).

New Delhi: The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an inclined spiral galaxy designated as NGC 3511 at a distance of 43 million lightyears from the Earth in the constellation of Crater or The Cup. The galaxy is tilted by around 70 degrees from the vantage point of the Earth. The galaxies that are turned entirely towards the Earth are called face-on spiral galaxies, while those that appear as a flat disc are called edge-on spiral galaxies. Inclined spiral galaxies have an orientation that is between face-on spiral galaxies and edge-on spiral galaxies. The variations in density and luminosity indicate the presence of spiral arms, but they are not clearly differentiated.

Towards the fringes of the galaxy are stellar nurseries that appear as the rose blooms, surrounded by energetic young stars that glow bright and blue. The older, redder stars occupy the core of the galaxy, which also has a central bulge. The dark strands are filaments of gas and dust, the raw material from which new stars are born. NGC 3511 was observed the the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a survey of star formation in nearby galaxies. Scientists are observing 55 local galaxies as part of the campaign using five specific filters.

Stellar Nurseries

These filters allow for lights in specific shades of red, or wavelengths of red light to pass through. Giant clouds of hydrogen gas glow in this red light, while absorbing and reemitting the energetic ultraviolet light from the young blue stars. NGC 3511 contains many of these red gas clouds in the fringes, some of which are curled around entire clusters of the brilliant blue stars. These younger stars are only a few million years old, and contain many times the mass of the Sun. Observations like this help astronomers study entire populations of stars, as well as the evolution of galaxies.

Aditya has studied journalism, multimedia technologies and ᚨᚾᚲᛁᛖᚾᛏ ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ. He has over 10 years experience as a science and technology reporter, with a focus on space, AI, videogames, cybsersecurity and fundamental research. He is usually found playing with age inappropriate LEGO sets or sedentary games both new and old.

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