A celestial light show illuminates a distant spiral galaxy, where a hidden supernova briefly outshines its stellar neighbors in a brand new image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The galaxy, called NGC 1672, is a barred spiral galaxy situated 49 million light-years from Earth within the constellation Dorado. Billions of stars fueled by hydrogen gas within the swirling arms glow brightly across the galaxy, with newly formed and intensely hot stars emitting powerful radiation that creates a vibrant red light, in response to a press release from the European Space Agency (ESA). (Hubble is a joint mission of NASA and ESA.)
The middle of the galaxy appears exceptionally vibrant because of this of a supermassive black hole that lies inside and consumes nearby matter, fueling what’s often known as an energetic galactic nucleus. Many hot young stars (the intense pink patches of sunshine within the image) occupy the ring of gas feeding the galaxy’s central black hole.
As host to an energetic galactic nucleus, NGC 1672 is formally classified as a Seyfert galaxy. This sort of galaxy is thought to be incredibly luminous, with a nucleus that may shine as vibrant as 100 billion suns.
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“This galaxy is a multi-talented light show, showing off a formidable array of various celestial lights,” ESA officials said within the statement. “Like every spiral galaxy, its disc is full of billions of shining stars that give it a good looking glow.”
Data collected by Hubble has also revealed a live Type I supernova called SN 2017GAX, which might be seen tucked slightly below the crook of one among the galaxy’s two outstanding spiral arms, near the underside right of the image. This supernova is probably the most fleeting and temporary of the galaxy’s light sources, in response to the statement.
A supernova is a vibrant stellar explosion triggered when a large star nears the tip of its life and collapses in on itself. It creates such a dramatic explosion that it will possibly quickly outshine a whole galaxy.
In actual fact, Hubble observations of NGC 1672 taken lower than a 12 months apart showed SN 2017GAX starting to fade right into a smaller green dot. Of the six Hubble images used to create this composite view, the supernova is simply visible in a single, highlighting its transient nature.
ESA also shared a slider tool created using Hubble images taken at different times to check views before and after the supernova.
