The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged NGC 3285B, a cosmic whirlpool in the constellation Hydra, 137 million light-years away. Looks peaceful doesn’t it? But it’s surrounded by countless other galaxies.
NGC 3285B is in the Hydra I cluster where hundreds to thousands of galaxies are held together by gravity. Hydra arcs 100 degrees across the sky, the largest of the 88 constellations, a celestial snake that’s almost 200 full Moons long. In related news, did you know the name “Hydra” means “water snake” in Greek?
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Hubble’s image of NGC 3285B shows the details. Bright regions are star forming, their light cutting through the darker dust lanes, showing the galaxy is still evolving. The central core, dense with older stars, glows softly, anchoring the arms.
The galaxy’s appeal is because it’s in the Hydra I cluster where galaxies are interacting, sometimes colliding with neighbors. These encounters can distort spiral arms, trigger star formation or mergers. NGC 3285B’s spiral arms are so well preserved it’s probably avoided major collisions.
Hubble’s sharpness comes from its Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3. Above the Earth’s atmosphere it avoids the distortions that blur ground based views and delivers images that feel incredibly sharp. At 137 million light-years NGC 3285B’s light started its journey when dinosaurs roamed Earth.
