The Hubble Space Telescope has obtained a breathtaking new image of a massive galaxy more than twice the size of the Milky Way.
NGC 474 is an elliptical galaxy situated roughly 100 million light-years from Earth. The Hubble Space Telescope acquired an up-close look of the galaxy’s center area, demonstrating its vast size.
NGC 474 is around 250,000 light-years wide and 2.5 times bigger than our Milky Way galaxy. According to NASA(opens in new tab), which published the new picture on May 18, NGC 474’s size is not its sole distinguishing attribute.
Recent Hubble scans suggest that NGC 474 is surrounded by a series of intricately layered shells. Although the origin of these shells is uncertain, the statement speculates that they may be the consequence of a galactic merger in which NGC 474 absorbed one or smaller galaxies.
The absorbed galaxy may have created waves during a galactic merger, resulting in the stratified shells seen in NGC 474. This is comparable to how a pebble put in water causes ripples.
Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys was used to get the new image of NGC 474. To acquire a thorough look at the vast galaxy, researchers also analyzed data from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and Wide Field Camera 3.
