The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular new image of NGC 3344, a face-on spiral galaxy. Hubble’s capacity to observe objects in different wavelengths allows us to see more than just the spiral arms sweeping out loosely around the center in a gorgeous whorl.
This image of NGC 3344 is a composite of separate exposures acquired by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Seven filters were used to sample various wavelengths. They cover wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the optical and the near-infrared. Together they create a detailed picture of the galaxy and allow astronomers to study many different aspects of it. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.
Spiral galaxies are some of the most spectacular sights in the sky, but to an observer they do not all look the same.
Some are seen edge-on, giving astronomers an excellent idea of the galaxy’s vertical structure; others are seen at an angle, providing a hint of the size and structure of the spiral arms; while others are seen face-on, showcasing their arms and bright core in all their beauty.
Around 30 million light-years away in the constellation Leo Minor, NGC 3344 is seen from a face-on perspective.
Half the size of the Milky Way Galaxy, it is classified as a weakly barred spiral galaxy.
The central bar is just visible in this Hubble image — an elongated lane of stars, trailing through the nucleus of the galaxy. Astronomers estimate that two-thirds of all spiral galaxies are barred, including our own Milky Way.
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The swirling spiral arms of NGC 3344 are the birthplace of new stars, whose high temperatures make them shine blue.
Clouds of dust and gas distributed through the spiral arms — glowing red in this image — are reservoirs of material for even more stars.
The bright jewel-like stars on the left of the picture, however, are much closer to Earth — they belong to our own Galaxy and just happened to photobomb this Hubble image.
While its face-on orientation reveals much about NGC 3344’s detailed structure, this galaxy is still enigmatic; astronomers have noticed that some of its outer stars are moving in a strange way.
Often, the high concentration of stars in the center of a galaxy can affect the movements of the outer stars, but this does not seem to be the case in NGC 3344.
Scientists suspect that these weirdly behaving outer stars may actually have been stolen from another galaxy, after a close encounter that took place long ago.
The location of NGC 3344 is also intriguing.
Our Milky Way Galaxy is part of the Local Group, which is made up of approximately 40 other galaxies.
But NGC 3344 is not part of a local galactic neighborhood like we are. It is actually part of a small spur that leads off the larger Virgo Supercluster, a gargantuan collection of several thousand galaxies.
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