The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of a spiral galaxy called NGC 772.
This image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a detailed view of the central part of the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 772. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Seth et al.
NGC 772 resides approximately 116 million light-years away in the constellation of Aries.
Also known as LEDA 7525, UGC 1466 and Arp 78, it has a diameter of roughly 200,000 light-years.
“NGC 772 has much in common with our home galaxy, the Milky Way,” the Hubble astronomers said.
“Each boasts a few satellite galaxies, small galaxies that closely orbit and are gravitationally bound to their parent galaxies.”
One of NGC 772’s spiral arms has been distorted and disrupted by one of these satellites, NGC 770, leaving it elongated and asymmetrical.
“However, the two are also different in a few key ways,” the scientists said.
“NGC 772 is both a peculiar and an unbarred spiral galaxy.”
“Respectively, this means that it is somewhat odd in size, shape, or composition, and that it lacks a central feature known as a bar, which we see in many galaxies throughout the cosmos — including the Milky Way.”
“These bars are built of gas and stars, and are thought to funnel and transport material through the galactic core, possibly fueling and igniting various processes such as star formation.”
