These two interacting galaxies are awash with bright young stars
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 26 JANUARY 2024
The two blue beauties seen in this picture are NGC 5410 and UGC 8932, a pair of interacting galaxies that can be found some 180 million lightyears from Earth in the constellation of Canes Venatici. NGC 5410, the larger of the two, is a barred spiral galaxy that was first observed by William Herschel in 1787. It measures 80,000 lightyears across and, like its smaller companion, has a distinctly blue colour. That’s because both galaxies are rich in young, hot stars. Blue stars are hotter than red stars such as our own Sun, and because they emit more energy, tend to be shorter-lived.
The unusual shape of UGC 8932 is believed to be due to the gravitational pull of its larger companion.
▲ Life in the dust lane
GEMINI SOUTH TELESCOPE, 25 JANUARY 2024
This image of NGC 4753, a lenticular galaxy 60 million lightyears away in the Virgo constellation, reveals the twisting dust lanes that are the most distinctive feature of its structure. These are believed to have originated from a collision with a companion dwarf galaxy around 1.3 billion years ago.
Starbirth through the ages
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY, 11 JANUARY 2024
These four pictures of distant galaxy clusters are taken from a large-scale survey
