November 23, 2024

Hubble Spots an Astronomical Intruder in a Distant Galaxy

Strewn across the image are background galaxies ranging from majestic spirals to fuzzy ellipticals. Background galaxies ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals are strewn across the image, and bright foreground stars much more detailed to house are likewise present, surrounded by diffraction spikes. In the center of the image, the vague shape of the little galaxy UGC 7983 appears as a hazy cloud of light.

By ESA/Hubble
January 15, 2023

This Hubble Space Telescope image consists of a host of huge things. Strewn across the image are background galaxies varying from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals. In the center of the frame, the faint summary of the tiny galaxy UGC 7983 can be seen as a blurred cloud of light.
Background galaxies ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals are scattered throughout the image, and brilliant foreground stars much closer to house are likewise present, surrounded by diffraction spikes. In the center of the image, the vague shape of the little galaxy UGC 7983 appears as a hazy cloud of light.
This image likewise hides an astronomical trespasser. A minor asteroid, just a handful of kilometers across, can be seen spotting throughout the upper left-hand side of this image. The trail of the asteroid shows up as four streaks of light separated by little spaces. These streaks of light represent the four separate direct exposures that were integrated to create this image, the little spaces between each observation being required to alter the filters inside NASA/ESA Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).
When this task was first proposed, approximately 75% of all the Milky Ways near stellar neighbors had been imaged by Hubble. A group of astronomers proposed utilizing the gaps between longer Hubble observations to capture images of the remaining 25%.