| 2MASX J01493473+3234464 - PGC 6700 - UGC 1281 |
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Luca Limatola
The galaxy cutting dramatically across the frame of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is a slightly warped dwarf galaxy
known as UGC 1281. Seen here from an edge-on perspective, this galaxy
lies roughly 18 million light-years away in the constellation of
Triangulum (The Triangle).
The bright companion to the lower left of UGC 1281 is the small
galaxy PGC 6700, officially known as 2MASX J01493473+3234464. Other
prominent stars belonging to our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and more
distant galaxies can be seen scattered throughout the sky.
The side-on view we have of UGC 1281 makes it a perfect candidate for studies into how gas is distributed within galactic halos
— the roughly spherical regions of diffuse gas extending outwards from a
galaxy’s centre. Astronomers have studied this galaxy to see how its
gas vertically extends out from its central plane, and found it to be a
quite typical dwarf galaxy. However, it does have a slightly warped
shape to its outer edges, and is forming stars at a particularly low
rate.
A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Luca Limatola.
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