Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess (STScl/JHU)
This stunning image from Hubble shows the majestic galaxy NGC 1015, found nestled within the constellation of Cetus (The Whale)
118 million light-years from Earth. In this image, we see NGC 1015
face-on, with its beautifully symmetrical swirling arms and bright
central bulge creating a scene akin to a sparkling Catherine wheel firework.
NGC 1015 has a bright, fairly large centre and smooth, tightly wound
spiral arms and a central “bar” of gas and stars. This shape leads NGC
1015 to be classified as a barred spiral galaxy — just like our home, the Milky Way.
Bars are found in around two-thirds of all spiral galaxies, and the
arms of this galaxy swirl outwards from a pale yellow ring encircling
the bar itself. Scientists believe that any hungry black holes lurking
at the centre of barred spirals funnel gas and energy from the outer
arms into the core via these glowing bars, feeding the black hole,
fueling star birth at the centre and building up the galaxy’s central bulge.
In 2009, a Type Ia supernova
named SN 2009ig was spotted in NGC 1015 — one of the bright dots to the
upper right of the galaxy’s centre. These types of supernovae are
extremely important: they are all caused by exploding white dwarfs which have companion stars, and always peak at the same brightness — 5 billion times brighter than the Sun. Knowing the true brightness of these events, and comparing this with their apparent brightness, gives astronomers a unique chance to measure distances in the Universe.
Source: ESA/Hubble/Potw
