NASA, ESA Capture Stunning Photo Of Spiral Galaxy Rich In Supernova Events

The Hubble Space Telescope, which is operated by NASA and the European Space Agency, recently shared a stunning photo of a galaxy that’s facing Earth. The agencies explained that the galaxy is home to quite a few violent supernova events.

The galaxy that was spotted by the space telescope is known as NGC 5468. It is located in the Virgo constellation and is about 140 million light-years away from Earth. NGC 5468 is classified as an intermediate spiral galaxy. This means it falls in between a barred and unbarred spiral galaxy.

According to the ESA, NGC 5468 is home to a number of supernova events that scientists and astronomers were able to witness from Earth. As explained by the agency, a supernova, which signifies the death of a star, can occur in two ways.

“Such explosions, known as supernovae, mainly occur in a couple of ways: either a massive star depletes its fuel at the end of its life, become dynamically unstable and unable to support its bulk, collapses inwards, and then violently explodes; or a white dwarf in an orbiting stellar couple siphons more mass off its companion than it is able to support, igniting runaway nuclear fusion in its core and beginning the supernova process,” ESA explained in a statement.

In both scenarios, the star that reached the end of its life cycle explodes and emits a bright light. In the case of NGC 5468, the ESA did no go into detail regarding the types of supernova events that occurred within the galaxy. But the agency noted that within the last two decades, at least five supernovae caused by the reasons explained above happened within the galaxy.

Unlike in other galaxies, astronomers can easily study the cosmic events happening in NGC 5468 due to its position from Earth.

“Despite being just over 130 million light-years away, the orientation of the galaxy with respect to us makes it easier to spot these new ‘stars’ as they appear; we see NGC 5468 face on, meaning we can see the galaxy’s loose, open spiral pattern in beautiful detail,” the ESA stated.