Hubble Images Galaxy with an Explosive Past
This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope features the spiral galaxy NGC 941, which lies about 55 million light-years from Earth. Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) collected the data that created this image. Beautiful NGC 941 is undoubtedly the main attraction in this view; however, the hazy-looking galaxy was not the motivation for collecting the data. That distinction belongs to an astronomical event that took place in the galaxy years before: the supernova SN 2005ad. The location of this faded supernova was observed as part of a study of multiple hydrogen-rich supernovae, also known as type II supernovae, to better understand the environments in which certain types of supernovae take place. While the study was conducted by professional astronomers, SN 2005ad itself owes its discovery to a distinguished amateur astronomer named Koichi Itagaki, who has discovered over 170 supernovae.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick
#NASA #STScI #NASAGoddard #NASAMarshall #galaxy #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST
More about the James Webb Space Telescope
Hubble Images Galaxy with an Explosive Past
This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope features the spiral galaxy NGC 941, which lies about 55 million light-years from Earth. Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) collected the data that created this image. Beautiful NGC 941 is undoubtedly the main attraction in this view; however, the hazy-looking galaxy was not the motivation for collecting the data. That distinction belongs to an astronomical event that took place in the galaxy years before: the supernova SN 2005ad. The location of this faded supernova was observed as part of a study of multiple hydrogen-rich supernovae, also known as type II supernovae, to better understand the environments in which certain types of supernovae take place. While the study was conducted by professional astronomers, SN 2005ad itself owes its discovery to a distinguished amateur astronomer named Koichi Itagaki, who has discovered over 170 supernovae.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick
#NASA #STScI #NASAGoddard #NASAMarshall #galaxy #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST
More about the James Webb Space Telescope