Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken an image of the barred spiral galaxy LEDA 857074.
This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy LEDA 857074. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. Four filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R.J. Foley.
LEDA 857074 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Eridanus.
“Hubble has observed a vast range of celestial objects, from galaxies, to nebulae, to star clusters, to planets in the Solar System and beyond,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“Observing programs usually seek to gather data so that astronomers can answer a specific question.”
“Naturally, this means most scheduled observations target an object that astronomers have already researched.”
“Some are famous, like the Crab Nebula or the globular cluster Omega Centauri; others might not be so well known to the public, but still be featured in hundreds of scientific papers, such as the Spider Galaxy or NGC 4753.”
“Not so with this galaxy: LEDA 857074 is named in fewer than five papers, one of which is the Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database itself.”
“Virtually no data have been recorded about it, other than its position: since its discovery, it simply hasn’t been studied. So how did it attract the gaze of the legendary Hubble?”
In 2022, a supernova event called SN 2022ADQZ was observed in LEDA 857074 by an automated survey.
“Astronomers have catalogued millions of galaxies, so while today tens of thousands of supernovae are detected annually, the chance that one is spotted in any particular galaxy is slim,” the researchers said.
“We also do not know how actively LEDA 857074 is forming stars, and therefore how often it might host a supernova.”
“This galaxy is therefore an unlikely and lucky target of Hubble, thanks to this supernova shining a spotlight on it!”
“It now joins the ranks of many more famous celestial objects, with its own Hubble image.”