Hubble telescope beams back picture of a 'soft, woolly' spiral galaxy
Christy Somos
CTVNews.ca Writer
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
The flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is seen here in this image posted by NASA on July 13, 2021 (ESA/Hubble & NASA and S. Smartt (Queen's University Belfast) Robert Gendler)
TORONTO -- The Hubble Space Telescope has beamed back a picture of a flocculent spiral galaxy, so called because of its “soft and fluffy” appearance and lack of defined spiral “arms” normally associated with spiral galaxies.
NASA posted the image Tuesday explaining that the galaxy, named NGC 3521, is a “member of a class of galaxies known as flocculent spirals, [and] like other flocculent galaxies, NGC3521 lacks the clearly defined, arcing structure to its spiral arms.”
The space agency also described NGC 3521 as having “patches of stars and dust” showing up here and there throughout the central disk, stating that about 30 per cent of galaxies share the same “patchiness” as NGC 3521.
The galaxy NGC 3521 is located about 26 million light years away and is found in the constellation Leo, NASA said.
NASA has also begun operations to restore the payload computer on the Hubble Space Telescope, providing an update Tuesday to say that the agency had completed a review to see if switching the telescope to its backup hardware is needed.
The investigation into the cause of computer issue that had paused the telescope’s observations is ongoing.
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
The flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is seen here in this image posted by NASA on July 13, 2021 (ESA/Hubble & NASA and S. Smartt (Queen's University Belfast) Robert Gendler)
TORONTO -- The Hubble Space Telescope has beamed back a picture of a flocculent spiral galaxy, so called because of its “soft and fluffy” appearance and lack of defined spiral “arms” normally associated with spiral galaxies.
NASA posted the image Tuesday explaining that the galaxy, named NGC 3521, is a “member of a class of galaxies known as flocculent spirals, [and] like other flocculent galaxies, NGC3521 lacks the clearly defined, arcing structure to its spiral arms.”
The space agency also described NGC 3521 as having “patches of stars and dust” showing up here and there throughout the central disk, stating that about 30 per cent of galaxies share the same “patchiness” as NGC 3521.
The galaxy NGC 3521 is located about 26 million light years away and is found in the constellation Leo, NASA said.
NASA has also begun operations to restore the payload computer on the Hubble Space Telescope, providing an update Tuesday to say that the agency had completed a review to see if switching the telescope to its backup hardware is needed.
The investigation into the cause of computer issue that had paused the telescope’s observations is ongoing.
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