Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced a spectacularly detailed image of the irregular galaxy Arp 263.
Arp 263 is located around 8.3 megaparsecs (27.1 million light-years) away in the constellation of Leo.
Otherwise known as NGC 3239, this irregular galaxy is approximately 40,000 light-years across.
Arp 263 was discovered on March 21, 1784 by the German-born British astronomer William Herschel.
“Arp 263 is a patchy, irregular galaxy studded with regions of recent star formation,” Hubble astronomers said.
“We believe that its ragged appearance is due to its having formed from the merger of two galaxies.”
Two different Hubble investigations into Arp 263 contributed data to this image.
“The first investigation was part of an effort to observe the sites of recent supernovae, such as the supernova SN 2012A that was detected just over a decade ago in Arp 263,” the astronomers explained.
They used Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to search for lingering remnants of the colossal stellar explosion.
“The second investigation is part of a campaign using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to image all the previously unobserved peculiar galaxies in the Arp catalogue, including Arp 263, in order to find promising subjects for further study using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope,” they added.
“The interloping foreground star, BD+17 2217, is adorned with two sets of criss-crossing diffraction spikes.”
“The interaction of light with Hubble’s internal structure means that concentrated bright objects such as stars are surrounded by four prominent spikes.”
“Since this image of BD+17 2217 was created using two sets of Hubble data, the spikes from both images surround this stellar photobomber.”
“The spikes are at different angles because Hubble was at different orientations when it collected the two datasets.”
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