spiral galaxies – Astronomy Now

A flawless spiral galaxy in Aries an oasis of light in a spiralling sea of stars

20 August 2021 Astronomy Now

A tilted spiral galaxy, showing off beautifully symmetric arms tightly wrapped around a brilliant core, provides a spectacular target for the Hubble Space Telescope.

A familiar face-on spiral hosts stars galore and a supermassive black hole

7 September 2020 Astronomy Now

The spiral galaxy M61, mistaken for a comet by Charles Messier in 1779, is an anchor tenant of the Virgo galaxy cluster, a beehive of rapid star birth.

Hubble captures captivating view of spiral galaxy’s picturesque ‘open arms’

12 February 2020 Astronomy Now

Spiral galaxies make up nearly three quarters of all known galaxies, some with tightly wound arms and other, like NGC 2008, with more wide-open arms wrapped around a compact central bulge.

‘Godzilla’ galaxy, one of largest observed, hosts a trillion suns

6 January 2020 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope is helping astronomers study one of the largest spiral galaxies yet found, a “Godzilla” galaxy hosting a trillion stars.

Face-on spiral galaxy showcases multiple supernova blasts

5 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Spiral galaxies oriented face on to Earth offer spectacular views while giving astronomers a better chance to monitor the frequency of supernova blasts. A prime example is a galaxy known as NGC 5468 where at least five stellar explosions have been spotted.

Hubble studies effects of monster black hole

5 September 2019 Astronomy Now

The Hubble Space Telescope observes the relativistic effects of a supermassive black hole at the heart of a face-on spiral galaxy where material in the core is whipping around at 10 percent the speed of light.

Spiral-like patterns of star formation discovered in old galaxies

22 November 2016 Astronomy Now

Elliptical and Lenticular galaxies (historically referred to as early-type galaxies) are thought to be no longer giving birth to new stars. Now, a team led by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) in Portugal has discovered optical spiral features in the outskirts of three nearby early-type galaxies, which points to a still ongoing inside-out growth.

Hubble nets a cosmic tadpole

29 June 2016 Astronomy Now

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a cosmic tadpole, with its bright head and elongated tail, wriggling through the inky black pool of space. Tadpole galaxies are rare and difficult to find in the local universe. This striking example, named LEDA 36252, was explored as part of a Hubble study into their mysterious properties — with interesting results.

The dark matter conspiracy

3 May 2015 Astronomy Now

A new study finds that elliptical galaxies maintain a remarkably constant circular speed out to large distances from their centres, in the same way that spiral galaxies do. In these very different types of galaxies, stars and dark matter somehow conspire to redistribute themselves to produce this effect, or does modified Newtonian dynamics offer an explanation?