UGC 7983 is a dwarf irregular galaxy, a type thought to be similar to the very earliest galaxies in the Universe.
This Hubble image shows the dwarf irregular galaxy UGC 7983. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Tully.
UGC 7983 lies approximately 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo.
Also known as TC 249, LEDA 43390/43400 and SDSS J124947.02+035032.2, it is classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy — a type thought to be similar to the very earliest galaxies in the Universe.
“Background galaxies ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals are strewn across the new Hubble image, and bright foreground stars much closer to home are also present, surrounded by diffraction spikes,” Hubble astronomers said.
“In the center of the image, the vague shape of UGC 7983 appears as a hazy cloud of light.”
This new Hubble image also conceals an astronomical interloper.
“A minor asteroid, only a handful of kilometers across, can be seen streaking across the upper left-hand side of this image,” the researchers said.
“The trail of the asteroid is visible as four streaks of light separated by small gaps.”
The image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).
Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
“The streaks of light represent the four separate exposures that were combined to create this image, the small gaps between each observation being necessary to change the filters inside Hubble’s ACS instrument,” the scientists said.
“Capturing an asteroid was a fortunate side effect of a larger effort to observe every known galaxy close to the Milky Way.”
“When this project was first proposed, roughly 75% of all the Milky Way’s near galactic neighbors had been imaged by Hubble.”
“A group of astronomers proposed using the gaps between longer Hubble observations to capture images of the remaining 25%.”
“The project was an elegantly efficient way to fill out some gaps not only in Hubble’s observing schedule, but also in our knowledge of nearby galaxies.”
