Photo of the day: a star belt in a true distant galaxy
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has published an image of the galaxy NGC 6902. This formation is located at a distance of more than 130 million light-years from us in the constellation Sagittarius.
The galaxy was discovered by the English astronomer John Herschel back in 1836. The image below was taken using the MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) multicomponent spectrograph, which is mounted on one of the four 8.2-meter telescopes of the VLT complex (ESO Very Large Telescope).
As noted, the galaxy is captured from a unique perspective. In particular, in the direction of the galactic center, the photo shows the circumnuclear ring belt. It mesmerizes with its orange glow – a sign of an ongoing intense star formation.
The galaxy’s spiral arms unwind from its bright core and dissolve at the periphery in streams of a blue misty cloud.
“ Inside the ring is a faint little bridge made of stars. The researchers found that the stars within it are distributed differently depending on their age – the younger ones are located along the bar, while the older ones are more evenly scattered, ”the ESO publication says.
