Hubble image of nearby dusty galaxy is selected as the Picture of the Week
NGC 7496 is a spiral galaxy located over 24 million light-years away in the constellation Grus (The Crane). Hubble first observed this galaxy as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program. The program aims to study how stars form in nearby galaxies — from gas clouds to newborn stars, to fully formed star clusters.
This new Hubble image includes new data. It highlights NGC 7496’s star clusters. The galaxy’s young star clusters consist of hot and massive stars. These stars appear bluish in Hubble’s view.
In this image, the clusters are surrounded by glowing red clouds of hydrogen gas. The image also highlights star-forming nebulae. These are the pink-glowing regions scattered around the galaxy’s spiral arms.
Interestingly, NGC 7496 has an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The galaxy has a supermassive black hole in its center. The activity of this black hole powers the luminous AGN.
Hubble’s observation shows a bar of yellowish light at the center. This bar is formed from an elongated collection of stars and interstellar material orbiting the galactic center. The spiral arms emerge from each end of this bar. The bright star seen to the right of NGC 7496 is from our Milky Way galaxy.
Other observatories like Webb have also looked in NGC 7496’s direction. In fact, the galaxy was the first in the PHANGS sample that Webb observed.
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