POTW 33: ESA shares detailed image of the Eye of the Serpent galaxy, showing bustling nebulae
Researchers have been using the Hubble Space Telescope to study nebulae — star-forming regions that consist of gas and dust. This time, the focus was shifted to NGC 2835 — a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Hydra (The Water Snake).
NGC 2835 is a relatively small galaxy, with a width about half that of the Milky Way. The twisting pattern of NGC 2835's spiral arms gives the galaxy a striking resemblance to an eye. This appearance, coupled with its placement near the head of the Hydra constellation, earned a nickname — Eye of the Serpent.
Utilizing the H-alpha wavelength, the new Hubble image captured several bright nebulae within NGC 2835. H-alpha is a wavelength of red light emitted by hydrogen. Many nebulae contain large amounts of hydrogen and emit light at that wavelength, hence they are better observed in that wavelength.
The recent image captured by Hubble features a face-on view of the galaxy, with young, bright blue stars scattered within its spiral arms. The center — known to host a supermassive black hole with mass millions of times that of our sun — is glowing yellow. The image also shows dark threads of dust following the spiral arms. The galaxy, which has been an object of interest in multiple observations, has now been featured twice in the Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week.
