Hubble telescope images spiral galaxy NGC 6000
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of NGC 6000, a spiral galaxy 102 million light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. The picture highlights stars of varying ages, from blue young clusters to a golden older core, while revealing faint remnants of past supernovae. An asteroid photobombed the shot, adding streaks to the cosmic scene.
This new Hubble Picture of the Week showcases NGC 6000, a sparkling spiral galaxy located 102 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. The image reveals a glowing yellow center filled with older, smaller, and cooler stars that appear redder due to their lower temperatures. In contrast, the galaxy's glittering blue outskirts feature brilliant star clusters of young, massive, and hotter stars that shine blue.
Hubble gathered the data during a survey of recent supernova explosion sites in nearby galaxies. NGC 6000 has experienced two such events: SN 2007ch in 2007 and SN 2010as in 2010. The telescope's sensitive detectors capture the faint glow from these supernovae years after their explosions, helping researchers constrain the masses of the progenitor stars and determine if they had stellar companions.
Adding an unexpected element, an asteroid from our Solar System drifted across Hubble's field of view during the observation. This created four thin yellow and blue lines on the right side of the galaxy's disc in the image. The streaks result from multiple exposures taken sequentially with pauses, each using filters for specific wavelengths around red and blue to study star colors. Such separate exposures make intruding asteroids particularly visible.