Captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy NGC 3344 appears head-on, allowing astronomers a detailed view of its intricate and elegant structure. And Hubble's ability to observe objects at a wide range of different wavelengths reveals features that would otherwise remain invisible.
Spiral galaxies are some of the most spectacular sights in the sky, but to an observer they do not all look the same. Some are seen edge-on, giving astronomers an excellent idea of the galaxy's vertical structure; others are seen at an angle, giving an idea of the size and structure of the spiral arms; while others are seen from the front, showing off their arms and glowing core in all their beauty.
Approximately 20 million light-years away, in the constellation Leo Minor (the Lion's Cub), NGC 3344 is seen from a stunning frontal perspective. It is half the size of the Milky Way and is classified as a weakly barred spiral galaxy. The central bar is barely visible in this image, taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3: an elongated strip of stars running through the galaxy's core. Astronomers estimate that two-thirds of all spiral galaxies are barred, including our Milky Way.
Hubble's ability to observe celestial objects at different wavelengths allows us to see more than just the spiral arms that extend freely around the center in a beautiful whorl. This image is a combination of images taken through different filters, ranging from near ultraviolet to optical and near infrared. Together they show a more complete picture of the galaxy than the human eye alone could see.
The rotating spiral arms are the birthplace of new stars, whose high temperatures make them glow blue, making them easily identifiable in this image. The clouds of dust and gas distributed throughout the spiral arms (glowing red in this image) are reservoirs of material for even more stars. However, the bright jewel-like stars on the left of the image are much closer to Earth: they belong to our own galaxy and just happened to photograph this Hubble image.
While its frontal orientation reveals much about the detailed structure of NGC 3344, this galaxy remains enigmatic; Astronomers have noticed that some of its outer stars move strangely. Often the high concentration of stars at the center of a galaxy can affect the movements of the outer stars, but this does not appear to be the case in NGC 3344. Astronomers suspect that these strangely behaving outer stars may actually have been stolen from another galaxy, after a close encounter that took place a long time ago.
The location of NGC 3344 is also intriguing. Our galaxy is part of the Local Group, which is made up of approximately 40 other galaxies, with the Andromeda galaxy being the largest member. But NGC 3344 is not part of a local galactic neighborhood like we are. It is actually part of a small spur that leads to the larger Virgo Supercluster, a gigantic collection of several thousand galaxies.
But it stands out among these thousands of galaxies for its beauty, which highlights the elegance of the Universe.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA
Explanation from: https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1803/
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