A galaxy featuring a Spanish cosmic dance of stars swirling around a supermassive black hole was recently discovered.
Astronomers are particularly interested in the Spanish Dancer called NGC 1556. The observatory's NOIRLab program, which the National Science Foundation oversees, said in a statement that this galaxy is located around 70 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Dorado.
The new image, experts say, depicts a couple of these sorts of celestial events.
Telescope Finds Galaxy Doing a Spanish Dance Near a Black Hole
The image displayed below depicts a wide variety of star ages. The Spanish Dancer's vivid blue arms represent a chain of dazzling young stars separated by black dust lanes. Older stars may be seen in redder locations closer to the galaxy's core; in 2010, scientists spotted one of the galaxy's elderly stars exploding in a supernova designated SN2010el.
An active supermassive black hole lurks in the galaxy's core, shooting out varying quantities of light. However, astronomers are still baffled as to what is going on.
#Astronomers have captured NGC 1566 using the @ENERGY-fabricated Dark Energy Camera at @cerrotololo, a Program of @NSF’s #NOIRLab. Colloquially nicknamed the Spanish Dancer, it appears to twirl and fling its arms through the vastness of #space. More: https://t.co/dckLSJmGqi
— NOIRLab (@NOIRLabAstro) February 22, 2022
1/2 pic.twitter.com/3A6iEv5jNx
Space.com said scientists are now interested in the Spanish Dancer galaxy because it is one of 19 galaxies that NASA's recently launched James Webb Space Telescope will explore as it focuses on the dusty areas of surrounding galaxies.
The observatory's infrared vision will allow it to see stars strewn across the dusty lanes of NGC 1566 and other galaxies. Scientists expect these new findings to aid their understanding of galaxies' star production timetable.
About Spanish Dancer
A few years ago, Business Insider said NGC 1566 put on a stunning light show. According to astronomers, a spectacular occurrence known as a Type II supernova happens when a high-mass star finishes its life in a dazzling, exploding display of light.
Astronomers originally discovered the star explosion was initially discovered in 2014 by astronomers using the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASASSN). They called the Spanish Dancer an ASASSN-14ha supernova candidate.
They won't know what type of explosion it is until they investigate more. However, it is undeniably a brilliant star explosion, with many speculating that it is most certainly a Type II supernova. It would be a spectacular stellar event if the explosion were a Type II supernova.
Stars produce type II supernova with a mass of 8 to 50 times our sun. It occurs when a star ages and runs out of fuel. This is terrible news since the pressure created by the burning fuel prevents the lead from falling owing to gravity. There was no fuel, no support, implosion, and finally, a catastrophic explosion due to the pressure.
NGC 1566, the supernova's host galaxy, is just a billion million light-years away from the Milky Way, which is relatively near in cosmic terms but unfortunately too far to be observed even with a quality home telescope.
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