NASA recently released a stunning image of the one-armed galaxy in incredible detail. Image courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Galaxy NGC 4618 is located 21 million light years from Earth. The galaxy is notable for having only one spiral of stars emanating from its galactic core.
NGC 4618 was first discovered in 1787 by the German-British astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Uranus four years later. Mr. Herschel originally studied 'hazy' objects in the distant sky that were not stars or other celestial bodies. The scientist discovered that these objects were large clusters of stars that we now know as galaxies. Here's what NASA experts note about the new discovery:
Ever since Herschel proposed his theory, astronomers have realized that what he saw was a galaxy. NGC 4618 is classified as a barred spiral galaxy, but it has a special difference from other spiral galaxies as it has only one arm. '
NGC 4618 is located about 21 million light-years from our galaxy in the constellation Cane Venatici and is about one-third the diameter of the Milky Way. Together with its neighbor, NGC 4625, it forms an interacting pair of galaxies, which means that the two galaxies are close enough to exert a gravitational influence on each other. These interactions can lead to the merger of two (or more) galaxies to form a new formation – such as a ring galaxy '.
Although NASA plans to shut down the Hubble Space Telescope next year, it has a worthy successor. We are talking about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is due to begin operations in 2021.
The JWST is so powerful that it will be able to look into the most distant corners of space and consider the earliest moments of the universe. The telescope was named after the second NASA administrator, James Webb, who operated from 1961 to 1968 and played a major role in the Apollo missions. The new telescope has the ability to scan thousands of planets for the existence of alien life there, even if these planets are thousands of light-years from Earth.
