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Hubble Space Telescope’s new image shows a spiral galaxy’s sparkling stars

WION Web Team
LondonUpdated: Dec 13, 2021, 07:08 PM IST
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A new image taken by Hubble Space Telescope Photograph:(Twitter)

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In a new image taken by Hubble Space Telescope, sparkling stars of a spiral galaxy can be seen. The telescope was able to capture an image of UGC 11537, a galaxy, which is 230 million light years away in the constellation named Aquila. This galaxy is around 10 times farther than the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

In a new image taken by Hubble Space Telescope, a sparkling side of a spiral galaxy can be seen.  

The telescope was able to capture an image of UGC 11537, a galaxy, which is 230 million light years away in the constellation named Aquila.  

This galaxy is around 10 times farther than the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), which is barely visible from naked eye in sky on Earth.  

In late November, the European Space Agency (ESA) said that as UGC 11537 is near the plane of the Milky Way where most stars of galaxy reside, two starry interlopers, which are closer to home, also snuck into the image.  

In the description of the image, ESA added, "The spikes surrounding these stars are imaging artifacts, called diffraction spikes. They are the result of starlight interacting with the structure that supports Hubble’s secondary mirror."  

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The image of the spiral galaxy came across during a search for supermassive black holes, which are embedded in these star structures.  

The image came due to data from Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.  

Earlier, Hubble Space Telescope was made fully functional again. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was able to take care of the glitches and the aging space telescope's instruments were online again.   

In October this year, Hubble had developed a glitch with synchronisation of its internal communication. Because of this, all four of its science instruments went offline.  

(With inputs from agencies)