The Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured this image of part of an unusual galaxy called NGC 428.
The object in this Hubble image is a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 428. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / S. Smartt, Queen’s University Belfast.
NGC 428, also known as LEDA 4367 or UGC 763, is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus.
It was discovered by the British astronomer Sir William Herschel in December 1786.
The galaxy is approximately 45,000 light-years across.
It has an apparent magnitude of 11 and lies at a distance of 37 million light-years from Earth.
Although a spiral shape is still just about visible in this close-up shot, overall NGC 428’s spiral structure appears to be quite distorted and warped, thought to be a result of a collision between two galaxies.
There also appears to be a substantial amount of star formation occurring within the galaxy – another telltale sign of a past encounter with another galaxy.
When galaxies collide their clouds of gas can merge, creating intense shocks and hot pockets of gas and often triggering new waves of star formation.
In 2013, a Type Ia supernova called SN 2013ct was discovered within NGC 428 by Stu Parker from the Backyard Observatory Supernova Search project in New Zealand.
Amateur astronomer Nick Rose submitted a version of this image to the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition.
