Hubble Space Telescope Captures Images of a Spiral Galaxy
It is believed that about a half of spiral galaxies (including our Milky Way) have a similar structure. The spiral arms of NGC 5921 stretch out of the bar, studded densely with clusters of young stars.
The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a new spectacular image of the spiral galaxy NGC 5921. It is located at a distance of nearly 80 million light-years from Earth in the Serpens constellation.
In terms of structure, NGC 5921 resembles the Milky Way. The photo Hubble has taken shows a band that crosses the galaxy's center and consists of stars and gas. It is called a bar. It is believed that about a half of spiral galaxies (including our Milky Way) have a similar structure. The spiral arms of NGC 5921 stretch out of the bar, studded densely with clusters of young stars.
The picture of NGC 5921 was taken as part of the joint study between the Gemini Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. Its main task was to study the relationships between such galaxies and the supermassive black holes they contain. The purpose of the Hubble telescope was to determine the mass of the stellar population of NGC 5921, as well as collect measurements that help calibrate Gemini's observations.