The Hubble Space Telescope of NASA/ESA captured this image showing UGC 10043. It is a spiral galaxie located about 150,000,000 light years away, in Serpens constellation. From Earth’s edge, the disk looks like a thin stripe with dust lanes prominent that hide the glow of this galaxy.
If viewed above, the dust could outline spiral arms of the galaxy. UGC 10043, one of the more rare spiral galaxies seen from this perspective.
Some active star-forming areas in UGC10043 are visible through the dust. A glowing egg-shaped bulge is visible at the galaxy’s core. This structure is common in spiral galaxies. The bulge is home to stars that orbit the galactic centre above and below.
It is possible that UGC 10043 has absorbed material from nearby dwarf galaxies, causing the bulge to be unusually big. The interaction could also explain the disk’s warping, where it bends downward and upward in one direction.
The Hubble composite image comprises several images taken at various wavelengths and times. The two sets of data used to create this Hubble image were taken 23 years apart in 2023 and 2000.
Hubble’s long-term mission has allowed for improved images to be produced of familiar targets. It also provides an archive of valuable data which is becoming increasingly valuable over time.
