The celestial object showcased in this week's Hubble Picture of the Week is the spiral galaxy
UGC 9684, which lies around 240 million light-years from Earth in the
constellation Boötes. This image shows an impressive example of several
classic galactic features, including a clear bar in the galaxy's centre, and a halo surrounding its disc.
The impetus for this Hubble image was a study into the host galaxies of Type-II supernovae. These cataclysmic stellar explosions take place throughout the Universe, and are of great interest to astronomers, so automated surveys
scan the night sky and attempt to catch sight of them. The supernova
which brought UGC 9684 to Hubble's attention occurred during 2020. It
has faded from view in this image, which was taken in 2023.
Remarkably, the 2020 supernova in this galaxy isn't the only one
that's been seen there — four supernova-like events have been spotted in
UGC 9684 since 2006, putting it up there with the most active
supernova-producing galaxies. It turns out that UGC 9684 is a quite
active star-forming galaxy, calculated as producing one solar mass worth
of stars every few years! This level of stellar formation makes UGC
9684 a veritable supernova factory, and a galaxy to watch for
astronomers hoping to examine these exceptional events.
