The highly irregular galaxy ESO 174-1, which resembles a lonely, hazy cloud against a backdrop of bright stars,
dominates this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. ESO
174-1 lies around 11 million light-years from Earth and consists of a
bright cloud of stars and a faint, meandering tendril of dark gas and
dust.
This image is part of a collection of Hubble observations that aims
to get to know our nearby galactic neighbours. To be more precise, the
observations aim to resolve the brightest stars and basic properties of
every known galaxy within 10 megaparsecs. A parsec is a unit used by
astronomers to measure the vast distances to other galaxies — 10
megaparsecs translates to 32 million light-years — and makes
astronomical distances easier to handle. For example, the nearest star
to the Sun, Proxima Centauri, is about 1.3 parsecs away. In everyday
units this is a staggering 40 million million kilometres!
The programme to capture all of our neighbouring galaxies was
designed to use the 2-3% of Hubble time that absolutely no other
observing programme can use. Many of the myriad objects that Hubble
observes can only be seen at certain times of year, which makes filling
out the observatory’s schedule a daunting logistical challenge.
Observing programmes such as the one which captured ESO 174-1 help
Hubble’s operators get the most out of every last minute of observing
time.
Thursday, June 29, 2023
Hubble checks in on the neighbours
A galaxy, large and occupying most of the view from the centre. The whole galaxy is made of smooth, diffuse
light. In the centre it is brighter and bluer, fading to a pale grey
halo that is faint and see-through. The light forms an arm on one side
that curls around the top. A couple threads of dark dust cross the
centre. Many stars shine around the galaxy, on a black background. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully
Source: ESA/Hubble/powt
