A stunning new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals an eerie white galaxy that stands against a backdrop of other distant galaxies.
The images display the galaxy IC 335, which is a member of a galaxy group that contains three others and is located about 60 million light-years away, NASA reported.
"As seen in this image, the disk of IC 335 appears edge-on from the vantage point of Earth. This makes it harder for astronomers to classify it, as most of the characteristics of a galaxy's morphology - the arms of a spiral or the bar across the center - are only visible on its face. Still, the 45,000 light-year-long galaxy could be classified as an S0 type," NASA stated,
S0 galaxies are characterized by "ill-defined" spiral arms and are sometimes mistaken for elliptical galaxies if viewed on an incline or face-on as is demonstrated in the new photo. The two galaxy types have key morphological differences. But also contain common characteristics such as general size and spectral features.
Both of these classes of galaxy are defined as "early-type," meaning they are most likely passively evolving. Researchers believe most elliptical galaxies have experienced violent encounters with other galaxies in their past; S0 galaxies on the other hand are most likely either "aging or fading" spiral galaxies that have never had interactions with other galaxies or are aging due to a single immersion of two spiral galaxies.
Researchers are still in debate over the exact nature of mysterious galaxies such as what is displayed in the image.
"The Hubble Space Telescope's launch in 1990 sped humanity to one of its greatest advances in that journey. Hubble is a telescope that orbits Earth. Its position above the atmosphere, which distorts and blocks the light that reaches our planet, gives it a view of the universe that typically far surpasses that of ground-based telescopes," NASA stated.
