Archivo de imágenes de Hubble

Galaxia espiral NGC 6503

Most galaxies are clumped together in groups or clusters. A neighboring galaxy is never far away. But this galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position, at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void.The Local Void is a huge stretch of s...

Fecha
Jan 1, 2015
Misión
Hubble Space Telescope
ID de archivo
hubblesite-images-2015-23-3586-image
Por

Most galaxies are clumped together in groups or clusters. A neighboring galaxy is never far away. But this galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position, at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void.

The Local Void is a huge stretch of space that is at least 150 million light-years across. It seems completely empty of stars or galaxies. The galaxy's odd location on the edge of this never-land led stargazer Stephen James O'Meara to dub it the "Lost-In-Space galaxy" in his 2007 book, Hidden Treasures.

NGC 6503 is 18 million light-years away from us in the northern circumpolar constellation of Draco. NGC 6503 spans some 30,000 light-years, about a third of the size of the Milky Way.

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows NGC 6503 in striking detail and with a rich set of colors. Bright red patches of gas can be seen scattered through its swirling spiral arms, mixed with bright blue regions that contain newly forming stars. Dark brown dust lanes snake across the galaxy's bright arms and center, giving it a mottled appearance.

The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys data for NGC 6503 were taken in April 2003, and the Wide Field Camera 3 data were taken in August 2013.

Credits

NASA, ESA, D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts), H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University), and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Detalles de la imagen

About The Object
Object NameNGC 6503
Object DescriptionSpiral Galaxy with Active Star Formation
R.A. Position17h 49m 26.42s
Dec. Position70° 8' 39.73"
ConstellationDraco
Distance18 million light-years (5.5 megaparsecs)
About The Data
Data DescriptionThe optical/UV image of NGC 6503 was created from Hubble data from proposals , PI: D. Calzetti (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), et al. and , PI: H. Ford (JHU) et al.
InstrumentHST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/UVIS
Exposure DatesApril 21, 2003 and August 21, 2013
FiltersF658N (H-alpha+[N II]), F275W (UV), F336W (U), F438W (B), F555W (V), and F814W (I)
About The Image
Color InfoThis image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS/WFC and WFC3/UVIS instruments. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Pink: F275W (UV) Purple: F336W (U) Blue: F438W (B) Green: F555W (V) Red: F814W (I) Red: F658N (H-alpha+[N II])

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