Hubble distinguishes a tiny galaxy with no defined structure

March 17 () –

UGCA 307 hangs against a jagged backdrop of distant galaxies in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

The small galaxy consists of a diffuse band of stars containing red bubbles of gas that mark regions of recent star formation and is approximately 26 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Corvus.

Appearing as only a small patch of stars, UGCA 307 is a tiny dwarf galaxy with no definite structure, resembling nothing more than a hazy patch of passing clouds, reports NASA.

This image is part of a Hubble project to explore all known nearby galaxies, giving astronomers information about our galactic neighborhood. Prior to this set of observations, Hubble investigated nearly three-quarters of the nearby galaxies in enough detail to detect the brightest stars. and understand the stars that populate each galaxy.

This Hubble project set out to explore the remaining quarter of the nearby galaxies by taking advantage of the short intervals in Hubble’s observing program.

This sharp image was captured by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) of Hubble, which was installed on the telescope in 2002 during Servicing Mission 3B. ACS replaced one of Hubble’s original instruments, the Faint Object Camera, which was built by ESA.