NGC 6753 - HST Potw1738a
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Judy SchmidtDespite the advances made in past decades, the process of galaxy formation remains an open question in astronomy. Various theories have been suggested, but since galaxies come in all shapes and sizes — including elliptical, spiral, and irregular — no single theory has so far been able to satisfactorily explain the origins of all the galaxies we see throughout the Universe.
To determine which formation model is correct (if any), astronomers hunt for the telltale signs of various physical processes. One example of this is galactic coronas, which are huge, invisible regions of hot gas that surround a galaxy’s visible bulk, forming a spheroidal shape. They are so hot that they can be detected by their X-ray emission, far beyond the optical radius of the galaxy. Because they are so wispy, these coronas are extremely difficult to detect. In 2013, astronomers highlighted NGC 6753, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, as one of only two known spiral galaxies that were both massive enough and close enough to permit detailed observations of their coronas. Of course, NGC 6753 is only close in astronomical terms — the galaxy is nearly 150 million light-years from Earth.
NGC 6753 is a whirl of colour in this image — the bursts of blue throughout the spiral arms are regions filled with young stars glowing brightly in ultraviolet light, while redder areas are filled with older stars emitting in the cooler near-infrared.
Credit:
ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Coordinates Position (RA): 19 11 23.69 Position (Dec): -57° 2' 52.29" Field of view: 1.84 x 1.83 arcminutes Orientation: North is 18.8° right of vertical
Colours & filters Band Wavelength Telescope Optical U 300 nm Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Optical U 300 nm Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Optical I 814 nm Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Optical I 814 nm Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2.
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NGC 6753NGC 6753 ist eine Spiralgalaxie vom Hubble-Typ Sb im Sternbild Pfau am Südsternhimmel. Sie ist schätzungsweise 139 Millionen Lichtjahre von der Milchstraße entfernt und hat einen Durchmesser von etwa 100.000 Lichtjahren. Im selben Himmelsareal befinden sich u. a. die Galaxien NGC 6758, IC 4826, IC 4829, IC 4832. .. weiterlesen