NASA has released a stunning image of the dwarf galaxy UGCA 307 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (NASA/ESA).
UGCA 307 lies about 26 million light-years from our solar system.
Also known as LEDA 43851, DDO 153, and HIPASS J1253-12, the galaxy is located in the constellation of the Crow.
“Appearing as a small patch of stars, UGCA 307 is a tiny dwarf galaxy with no definite structure, resembling nothing more than a hazy patch of a cloud passing by,” the astronomers said in a statement.
It consists of a diffuse band of stars containing red bubbles of gas that mark regions of recent star formation.
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This new image of UGCA 307 is part of a project by astronomers to study every known neighboring galaxy, giving researchers insight into our galactic environment.
Prior to this set of observations, Hubble had examined nearly three-quarters of the nearby galaxies in sufficient detail to detect the brightest stars and get an idea of the stars that inhabit each galaxy.
This Hubble project aims to explore the remaining quarter of the nearest galaxies using short gaps in the space telescope’s observing schedule.
The color image was composited from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum using the Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys. It is based on data received through two filters. The color is obtained by assigning different shades to each monochrome image associated with a particular filter.
