{"id":186385,"date":"2025-03-14T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/missions\/hubble\/hubble-sees-a-spiral-and-a-star\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T11:00:00","slug":"hubble-sees-a-spiral-and-a-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=186385","title":{"rendered":"Hubble Sees a Spiral and a Star"},"content":{"rendered":"
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2 min read<\/p>\n

Hubble Sees a Spiral and a Star<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/a><\/figure>
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This NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 4900.<\/div>\n
ESA\/Hubble & NASA, S. J. Smartt, C. Kilpatrick<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> image features a sparkling spiral galaxy paired with a prominent star, both in the constellation Virgo. While the galaxy and the star appear to be close to one another, even overlapping, they\u2019re actually a great distance apart. The star, marked with four long diffraction spikes, is in our own galaxy. It\u2019s just 7,109 light-years away from Earth. The galaxy, named NGC 4900, lies about 45 million light-years from Earth.<\/p>\n

This image combines data from two of Hubble\u2019s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys<\/a>, installed in 2002 and still in operation today, and the older Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was in use from 1993 to 2009. The data used here were taken more than 20 years apart for two different observing programs \u2014 a real testament to Hubble\u2019s long scientific lifetime!<\/p>\n

Both programs aimed to understand the demise of massive stars. In one, researchers studied the sites of past supernovae, aiming to estimate the masses of the stars that exploded and investigate how supernovae interact with their surroundings. They selected NGC 4900 for the study because it hosted a supernova named SN 1999br.<\/p>\n

In the other program, researchers laid the groundwork for studying future supernovae by collecting images of more than 150 nearby galaxies. When researchers detect a supernova in one of these galaxies, they can refer to these images, examining the star at the location of the supernova. Identifying a supernova progenitor star in pre-explosion images gives valuable information about how, when, and why supernovae occur.<\/p>\n

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Media Contact<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Claire Andreoli<\/strong>\u00a0(claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/strong><\/a>)
NASA\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Greenbelt, Maryland<\/strong><\/p>\n

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