Although the universe may seem spacious most galaxies are clumped together in groups or clusters and a neighbor is never far away. But this galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void. This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a very rich set of colors, adding to the detail seen in previous images.
NGC 6503 is only some 18 million light-years away from us in the constellation of Draco (The Dragon), making it one of the closest neighbors from our local group, according to a press release. It spans some 30,000 light-years, about a third of the size of the Milky Way.
This galaxy is the subject of ongoing research. The Hubble Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS) is exploring a sample of nearby galaxies, including NGC 6503, to study their shape, internal structure, and the properties and behavior of their stars.
The Local Void is a patch of space thought to be about 150 million light-years across that seems to be curiously devoid of galaxies. Astronomers using Hubble discovered that the emptiness of this region has quite an effect on the space around us - the Milky Way is being strongly pulled away from it by the gentle but relentless tug of other nearby galaxies.
NGC 6503 lies right on the edge of this void. It has an almost non-existent central bulge surrounded by a massive halo of gas. The galaxy's central region is a good example of something known as a "low ionisation nuclear emission region" or LINER. These are less luminous than some of the brightest galaxies. Emission from NGC 6503's heart is believed to be the result of a starved black hole that is only just being kept active, receiving a very small amount of infalling gas to keep its large appetite at bay.
