Hubble captures stunning views of the spiral galaxy NGC 2336

NGC 2336 was discovered over a century ago, but the great blue spiral galaxy has never looked so good, thanks to an eye-catching image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope.

German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel discovered NGC 2336 in 1876, which he did with a humble 11 inch (0.28 meter) telescope. He could hardly have imagined a photo like this, taken by Hubble’s 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) main mirror, according to to a NASA press release.

NGC 2336 is about 100 million light years away away and located in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis (which represents a giraffe). With its eight prominent spiral arms, NGC 2336 measures approximately 200 light years on the other side. In contrast, the Milky Way – another spiral galaxy – is about half that size and is 105,000 light years long. in diameter.

The gigantic galaxy is filled with young stars, which appear blue, while older stars, often located towards the center, glow red.

Interestingly, NGC 2336 produced a visible supernova, which astronomers detected on August 16, 1987. It was later determined to be a Type 1a supernova, in which the explosive member of a binary pair is a white dwarf.