NASA has released a beautiful new image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the ‘flocculent’ spiral galaxy NGC 5530.
This Hubble image shows NGC 5530, a spiral galaxy some 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Lupus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.
NGC 5530 is located approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Lupus.
Also known as IRAS 14152-4309 or ESO-LV 272-0030, the galaxy has a diameter of about 60,000 light-years.
First discovered by the British astronomer John Herschel on April 7, 1837, NGC 5530 is a main member of the NGC 5643 group of galaxies.
“NGC 5530 is classified as a ‘flocculent’ spiral, meaning that its spiral arms are patchy and indistinct,” the Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“While some galaxies have extraordinarily bright centers where they host a feasting supermassive black hole, the bright source near the center of NGC 5530 is not an active black hole but instead a star within our own Galaxy, only 10,000 light-years from Earth.”
“This chance alignment gives the appearance that the star is at the dense heart of NGC 5530.”
In 2007, a supernova event labeled SN 2007it occurred in this galaxy.
“If you had pointed a backyard telescope at NGC 5530 on the evening of September 13, 2007, you would have seen another bright point of light adorning the galaxy,” the astronomers said.
“That night, Australian amateur astronomer Robert Evans discovered a supernova, named SN 2007it, by comparing NGC 5530’s appearance through the telescope to a reference photo of the galaxy.”
“While it’s remarkable to discover even one supernova using this painstaking method, Evans has in fact discovered more than 40 supernovae this way.”
“This particular discovery was truly serendipitous: it’s likely that the light from the supernova had completed its 40-million-year journey to Earth just days before the explosion was discovered.”
The color image of NGC 5530 is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum.
The picture is based on data obtained through five filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
