Published 13:54 IST, July 9th 2019
'Blooming' Galaxy: NASA's Hubble Telescope captures stunning pictures of newborn stars in spiral galaxy 70 million light years away
Blessing the world with a visual treat among the horrendous doomsday reports, NASA's Hubble telescope has recently captured a rose-like bloom in a spiral galaxy-Â NGC 972 which is just under 70 million light-years away from our galaxy, as shared by the American space agency
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Blessing the world with a visual treat among the horrendous doomsday reports, NASA's Hubble telescope has recently captured a rose-like bloom in a spiral galaxy- NGC 972 which is just under 70 million light-years away from our galaxy, as shared by the American space agency.
The visuals show an orange-pink glowing cluster of stars swirling in space to form a spiral formation amid the dark, tangled streams of cosmic dust.
As explained by NASA, the orange-pink glow is created as hydrogen gas reacts to the intense light streaming outwards from nearby newborn stars.
The significance of the image:
NASA has stated that astronomers study such images to further understand the origin of such galaxies along with factors which affect its formation rates, locations and histories.
"Astronomers look for these telltale signs of star formation when they study galaxies throughout the cosmos, as star formation rates, locations, and histories offer critical clues about how these colossal collections of gas and dust have evolved over time," writes NASA.
Talking about the image which captures the instance of newborn stars, NASA has further elaborated on the factors of a galaxy influencing newly born stars and vice versa like - gravity, radiation, matter, and dark matter.
"New generations of stars contribute to — and are also, in turn, influenced by — the broader forces and factors that mold galaxies throughout the universe, such as gravity, radiation, matter, and dark matter," states NASA.
What is galaxy NGC 972?
The galaxy was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel in 1972. It is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Aries at an approximate distance of 72.52 Million light years. It has many bright, colourful pockets of newly formed stars currently, as captured by the Hubble telescope.
13:41 IST, July 9th 2019