ultra-diffuse galaxy GAMA 526784
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. van der Burg
Acknowledgement: L. Shatz
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. van der Burg
Acknowledgement: L. Shatz
The ultra-diffuse galaxy GAMA 526784 appears as a tenuous
patch of light in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
This wispy object resides in the constellation Hydra, roughly four
billion light-years from Earth. Ultra-diffuse galaxies such as GAMA
526784 have a number of peculiarities. For example, their dark matter
content can be either extremely low or extremely high — ultra-diffuse
galaxies have been observed with an almost complete lack of dark matter,
whereas others consist of almost nothing but dark matter. Another
oddity of this class of galaxies is their anomalous abundance of bright
globular clusters, something not observed in other types of galaxies.
Hubble captured GAMA 526784 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which was installed in 2002
by astronauts during Hubble Servicing Mission 3B. Since then, the
instrument has played a pivotal role in some of Hubble’s most impressive
scientific results, including capturing the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The ACS has also photographed Pluto in advance of the New Horizon mission, observed gargantuan gravitational lenses and found fully formed galaxies in the early Universe.
This image comes from a set of Hubble observations designed
to shed light on the properties of ultra-diffuse galaxies. Hubble’s
keen vision allowed astronomers to study GAMA 526784 in high resolution
at ultraviolet wavelengths, helping to gauge the sizes and ages of the
compact star-forming regions studding the galaxy.
Source: ESA/Hubble/potw
