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The Hubble Space Telescope takes a stunning shot of the spiral galaxy called NGC 5728 which has a brightly lit ‘celestial eye’ caused by gas and dust swirling around its black hole
- NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope took an image of the galaxy NGC 5728
- NGC 5728 is a Seyfert galaxy, which is “powered by their active nuclei”
- These galaxies have significantly higher brightness in the central region than the remaining galactic light, but NGC 5728 can be observed
- The Hubble used its Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to take the photo
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope took a remarkable image of a galaxy in deep space that has an active nucleus, similar to a “cosmic eye”.
The galaxy, known as NGC 5728, is 130 million light years from Earth.
It appears to be a spiral galaxy, just like the Milky Way, but it is actually a Seyfert galaxy, a type of galaxy “powered by their active nuclei,” according to a NASA statement.
These galaxies are part of the class of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), which have a significantly higher luminosity in the central region than the remaining galactic light.
“Other types of AGNs, such as quasars, emit so much radiation that it is almost impossible to observe the galaxy that harbors them,” NASA added.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope took an image of the galaxy NGC 5728, 130 million light years from Earth. NGC 5728 is a Seyfert galaxy, which is “powered by their active nuclei”
However, NGC 5728 is clearly observable and in optical and infrared wavelengths it looks “quite normal,” NASA explained.
The center of the galaxy NGC 5728 emits “large amounts” of light in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that the WFC3 camera would be able to see even if it was not in close proximity to the dust surrounding the core of the galaxy.
The Hubble used its Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to take the picture.
This instrument was responsible for other discoveries in recent memory, such as the discovery of a blue gas jet that resembles a lightsaber.
The Hubble used its Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to take the picture. The Hubble is set to be replaced by the $ 10 billion James Webb telescope when it launches later this year
The Seyfert galaxies are named after the American astronomer Carl K. Seyfert, who first spotted them in 1944.
There are two types: type 1 Seyfert galaxies which have broad emission lines and type 2 Seyfert galaxies, which have strong emission lines.
In August, Hubble’s WFC3 was responsible for publishing an image of a stellar nursery, AFGL 5180, 5,000 light years from Earth.
The Hubble, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, is expected to be replaced by the $ 10 billion James Webb Telescope when it launches later this year.
It will depart for space from French Guiana on December 18, after a series of delays.
Since its launch in April 1990, Hubble has made more than 1.5 million observations of the universe and more than 18,000 scientific papers have been published based on its data.
It orbits the Earth at a speed of about 17,000 mph (27,300 km / h) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles above sea level, slightly higher than the International Space Station.
The telescope is named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble, born in Missouri in 1889, who discovered that the universe is expanding, and the speed at which it is doing so.
Scientists study the atmosphere of distant exoplanets using huge space satellites like Hubble
Distant stars and their orbiting planets often have different conditions than anything we see in our atmosphere.
To understand these new worlds and what they are made of, scientists must be able to detect what their atmosphere is.
They often do this using a telescope similar to NASA’s Hubble Telescope.
These huge satellites scan the sky and fix themselves on exoplanets that NASA says could be of interest.
Here, on-board sensors perform different forms of analysis.
One of the most important and useful is absorption spectroscopy.
This form of analysis measures the light that comes out of a planet’s atmosphere.
Each gas absorbs a slightly different wavelength of light, and when this happens, a black line appears over a full spectrum.
These lines correspond to a very precise molecule, which indicates its presence on the planet.
They are often referred to as the Fraunhofer lines after the German astronomer and physicist who first discovered them in 1814.
By combining all of the different wavelengths of lights, scientists can determine all of the chemicals that make up a planet’s atmosphere.
The key is that what is missing provides the clues to find out what is present.
It is vitally important that this be done by space telescopes, as the Earth’s atmosphere would then interfere.
Absorbing chemicals into our atmosphere would distort the sample, which is why it is important to study the light before it has a chance to reach Earth.
This is often used to search for helium, sodium, and even oxygen in alien atmospheres.
This diagram shows how light passing from a star and through the atmosphere of an exoplanet produces Fraunhofer lines indicating the presence of key compounds such as sodium or helium.
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