Hubble captures detailed image of spiral galaxy NGC 3137
Updated
Updated · Science@NASA · May 1
Hubble captures detailed image of spiral galaxy NGC 3137
8 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · May 1
The galaxy lies 53 million light-years away in Antlia and shows bright blue star clusters, red gas clouds and a central black hole about 60 million solar masses.
Astronomers are using the observations to trace stellar ages and the cycle of star birth and death in NGC 3137, one of 55 nearby galaxies in programme 17502.
NGC 3137 belongs to the NGC 3175 group, thought to resemble the Local Group, and the PHANGS-HST effort combines Hubble data with Webb and ALMA to study local star formation.
How does this distant galaxy's giant black hole help predict the future of star creation in our own Milky Way?
Is our 'galactic twin' a perfect mirror, or could its history mislead us about the Milky Way's fate?
With new telescopes peering through cosmic dust, can we finally solve how majestic spiral arms like our own are born?