{"id":770147,"date":"2023-10-20T07:56:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T11:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=770147"},"modified":"2023-10-20T07:56:50","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T11:56:50","slug":"hubble-captures-a-galaxy-face-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=770147","title":{"rendered":"Hubble Captures a Galaxy Face-On"},"content":{"rendered":"
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2 min read<\/p>\n

Hubble Captures a Galaxy Face-On<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/figure>
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NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope captures the face-on spiral galaxy, IC 5332.<\/div>\n
ESA\/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar, J<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This glittering image from the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> shows the spiral galaxy IC 5332. The galaxy lies about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor and has an almost face-on orientation to Earth. To understand the term \u2018face-on,\u2019 it is helpful to visualize a spiral galaxy as an extremely large disk. If the galaxy\u2019s orientation makes it appear circular and disk-shaped from our perspective on Earth, then we say that it is \u2018face-on.\u2019 In contrast, if the galaxy\u2019s orientation is such that it appears squashed and oval-shaped, then we say that it is \u2018edge-on.\u2019 The key thing is that the same galaxy would look extremely different from our perspective depending on whether it was face-on or edge-on as seen from Earth.<\/p>\n

IC 5332 is an SABc-type galaxy in the De Vaucouleurs system of galaxy classification. The \u2018S\u2019 identifies it as a spiral galaxy, which it clearly is, given its well-defined arms of bright stars and darker dust that curl outwards from the galaxy\u2019s dense and bright core. The \u2018AB\u2019 designation is a little more complex. It means that the galaxy is weakly barred, which refers to the shape of the galaxy\u2019s center. The majority of spiral galaxies do not spiral out from a single point, but rather from an elongated bar-type structure. SAB galaxies \u2013 which are also known as intermediate spiral galaxies \u2013 do not have a clear bar-shape at their core, but also do not spiral out from a single point, instead falling somewhere in between. The lowercase \u2018c\u2019 describes how tightly wound the spiral arms are: \u2018a\u2019 would indicate very tightly wound, and \u2018d\u2019 very loosely wound. Thus, IC 5332 is an intermediate spiral galaxy on many fronts: weakly barred, with quite loosely wound arms, and almost completely face-on!<\/p>\n

Text credit: European Space Agency<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

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