Zero Genie

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding image of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 3583.

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3583. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Riess et al.

NGC 3583 was discovered by the English astronomer John Herschel on February 5, 1788

This galaxy is located approximately 103 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major.

Also known as LEDA 34232 or UGC 6263, it has a diameter of 80,000 light-years.

Together with the elliptical dwarf galaxy SDSS J111415.42+481934.2, it forms a gravitationally bound pair of galaxies.

Two supernova explosions were detected in NGC 3583: SN 1975P on November 13, 1975 and ASASSN-15so on November 8, 2015.

“There are a few different ways that supernova can form,” Hubble astronomers explained.

“In the case of these two supernovae, the explosions evolved from two independent binary star systems in which the stellar remnant of a Sun-like star, known as a white dwarf, was collecting material from its companion star.”

“Feeding off of its partner, the white dwarf gorged on the material until it reached a maximum mass.”

“At this point, the star collapsed inward before exploding outward in a brilliant supernova.”

“Two of these events were spotted in NGC 3583, and though not visible in this picture, we can still marvel at the galaxy’s fearful symmetry,” they said.