Hubble has captured yet another mesmerizing image of a spiral galaxy. This time, though, the space telescope also captured a shot of a nearby star that shines just as brightly as its galactic companion.
Galaxy NGC 5495 is just 300 million light-years away from our planet. And, in the newest Hubble image of the beautiful spiral galaxy, the European Space Agency (ESA) has captured photos of several stars within our own Milky Way.
The ESA originally released the image back in September. However, it recently began making the rounds again due to the Milky Ways stars within it effectively photobombing the spiral galaxy that Hubble was focused on for the image. The image was captured using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, and it shows the galaxy’s front face as well as its core.
Despite its age, this Hubble image of the spiral galaxy NGC 5495 shows just how powerful the space telescope still is, even after 30 years of active service observing our universe. Further, because the telescope continues to operate as normal, it also has the potential to provide the James Webb space telescope with some exceptional companionship in future observations.
Further, Hubble also gave us a unique look at the effects that NASA’s DART test had on the asteroid Dimorphos, which the space agency looked to change last month. With this newest Hubble image, we’re also once again reminded of just how much life this telescope has left in it. Further, the galaxy NGC 5495 is considered a Seyfert galaxy, with an active galactic nucleus at its core.
And this isn’t even the most beautiful image that Hubble has captured. Alongside this image of a spiral galaxy, Hubble has also peered deep into the Orion Nebula, capturing the heart of the nebula itself. The space telescope also recently captured a stunning photo of a cosmic nursery, where a dark void in space offers a keyhole-like appearance.
More coverage: Hubble captures images of supernova from three different moments in time.
