{"id":776263,"date":"2023-12-29T13:08:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T18:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=776263"},"modified":"2023-12-29T13:08:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T18:08:55","slug":"hubble-captures-throng-of-spiral-galaxies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=776263","title":{"rendered":"Hubble captures throng of spiral galaxies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\n \n Credit: ESA\/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey\/DOE\/FNAL\/NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA; CC BY 4.0 Acknowledgement: L. Shatz \n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
This Hubble Picture of the Week features a richness of spiral galaxies: the large, prominent spiral galaxy on the right side of the image is NGC 1356; the two apparently smaller spiral galaxies flanking it are LEDA 467699 (above it) and LEDA 95415 (very close at its left) respectively; and finally, IC 1947 sits along the left side of the image.<\/p>\n
This image is a really interesting example of how challenging it can be to tell whether two galaxies are actually close together or just seem to be from our perspective here on Earth. A quick glance at this image would likely lead you to think that NGC 1356, LEDA 467699, and LEDA 95415 were all close companions, while IC 1947 was more remote.<\/p>\n
However, we have to remember that two-dimensional images such as this one only give an indication of angular separation: that is, how objects are spread across the sphere of the night sky. What they cannot represent is the distance objects are from Earth.<\/p>\n
For instance, while NGC 1356 and LEDA 95415 appear to be so close that they must surely be interacting, the former is about 550 million light-years from Earth, and the latter is roughly 840 million light-years away, so there is nearly a whopping 300 million light-year separation between them. That also means that LEDA 95415 is likely nowhere near as much smaller than NGC 1356 as it appears to be.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, while NGC 1356 and IC 1947 seem to be separated by a relative gulf in this image, IC 1947 is only about 500 million light-years from Earth. The angular distance apparent between them in this image only works out to less than four hundred thousand light-years, so they are actually much much closer neighbors in three-dimensional space than NGC 1356 and LEDA 95415!<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEuropean Space Agency<\/p>\n