NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a stellar explosion throwing debris into the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way located 163,000 light-years from Earth. This is actually the second or third-closest galaxy to the Milky Way, after the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal.
Astronomers classify the LMC as a Magellanic spiral, and it contains a stellar bar that is geometrically off center, which suggests that it was a barred dwarf spiral galaxy at one point before its spiral arms were disrupted. What could cause such a disruption? Tidal interactions from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the Milky Way’s gravity of course.
- LEGO NASA Space Set - This adult LEGO set features the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope from NASA’s 1990 STS-31 mission,...
- Solar System Exploration - Unlock the mysteries of our solar system with this engaging 2,354-piece project, packed with authentic details and...
- Shuttle Features Galore - The space shuttle model has an opening payload bay, retractable landing gear, opening cockpit, moving elevons, space arm,...
Since its 1990 launch, Hubble has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe; with over 1.5 million observations and 20,000+ papers published on its discoveries, Hubble is the most productive science mission in the history of NASA,” said Monika Luabeya, Web Writer at NASA.
[Source]
