Hubble Space Telescope Spies Spiral Galaxy Edge-On

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 1032, a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on.

NGC 1032. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

NGC 1032, discovered on December 18, 1783, by German-born British astronomer William Herschel, lies in the constellation of Cetus.

Also known as LEDA 10060, UGC 2147 and IRAS F02367+0052, the galaxy is approximately 122 million light-years distant.

NGC 1032 is actually a spectacular spiral galaxy, but from Earth, the galaxy’s vast disc of gas, dust and stars is seen nearly edge-on.

A handful of other galaxies can be seen lurking in the background, scattered around the narrow stripe of NGC 1032.

Many are oriented face-on or at tilted angles, showing off their glamorous spiral arms and bright cores.

Such orientations provide a wealth of detail about the arms and their nuclei, but fully understanding a galaxy’s 3D structure also requires an edge-on view.

This gives astronomers an overall idea of how stars are distributed throughout the galaxy and allows them to measure the ‘height’ of the disc and the bright star-studded core.

In January 2005, a faint calcium-rich supernova called SN 2005E was observed in NGC 1032.

SN 2005E occurred in the halo of NGC 1032, and emitted a large amount of calcium and titanium, which is evidence of a nuclear reaction involving helium.

Astronomers concluded that SN 2005E arose from a low-mass, old star, likely a helium-accreting white dwarf in a binary system.

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