NASA Hubble Images Show Stunning View of the Heart of Massive Galaxy, Spiral Stunner [PHOTOS]
(Photo : Photo by Hubble Space Telescope/Nasa via Getty Images)
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning view of the heart of a massive galaxy, a spiral stunner known to scientists as NGC 4571. While the galaxy is big, it is far from one of the largest cosmic bodies that scientists have captured using various equipment designed to look out into the vastness of space.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning view of the heart of the galaxy, a spiral stunner of a cosmic body known as NGC 4571.

While the massive galaxy might look impressive at first glance, it is far from the largest thing that astronomers have been able to observe in the vastness of space. The recent galaxy is only one of more than 1,000 galaxies that swirl in a cluster experts know as Virgo.

A Queen's Galaxy

Furthermore, the constellation where the galaxy is located also has a very interesting story behind it. It is part of the Coma Berenices constellation, which is a reference to Queen Berenice II of Egypt, and is translated to "Bernice's Hair."

Queen Bernice II reigned in ancient Egypt roughly 2,200 years ago, and the image captured as Hubble has been looking out into the cosmos since 1990. NASA scientists called the finding a result of a "treasure trove of combined observations," as per The Sun.

While NGC 4571 is part of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, the Virgo cluster is also part of the Virgo supercluster, which includes the Local Group that contains our galaxy, the Milky Way. The stunning image comes from a large program of observations that were designed to produce a collection of observations from two great observatories: Hubble and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

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Alma is a large telescope that consists of 66 high-precision antennas and is located high in the Chilean Andes. It observes the cosmos at wavelengths between infrared and radio waves, allowing it to detect the clouds of cool interstellar dust that give birth to new stars.

According to NASA, the Hubble telescope makes observations at ultraviolet wavelengths that allow astronomers to pinpoint the location of hot, luminous, newly formed stars. With the combined observations, ALMA and Hubble provided a vital repository of data to experts that study star formation.

Another Spiral Galaxy

NASA has also recently shown a finely detailed image of the heart of NGC 1097, which is a barred spiral galaxy that is located roughly 48 million light-years from our planet and is in the constellation Fornax. The photograph captures the intricacies of the web of stars and dust gathered in the center of the galaxy.

The picture was taken with the combined effort of the Hubble, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), and the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Similar to what scientists did with NGC 4571, the beautiful image of this other galaxy was due to the different wavelengths of observations made.

Telescopes are able to produce color images with the help of filters; and by sliding one over the aperture of one like the WFC3 or ACS, it will limit only the light from a specific wavelength to pass through. The multicolor image that shows NGC 1097 in all its glory is composed of images that used seven different filters in total.

The recent finding also comes after NASA's new space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, conducted a test shot and captured a dazzling image of a faraway star with a collection of ancient galaxies in its background. The photograph was taken as part of a test to see how its 18 hexagonal mirrors worked together, The Guardian reported.


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