Hubble Space Telescope image of the impressive silver-blue spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 4848. Credit: ESA / Hubble and NASA, M. Gregg
A notable feature of most spiral galaxies is the multitude of arched spiral arms that apparently rotate from the center of the galaxy. In this image, taken with the POT/ THAT hubble space telescope, the stunning silver-blue spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 4848 are observed in immense detail. Not only do we see the inner section of the spiral arms containing hundreds of thousands of young, bright, blue stars, but Hubble has also captured the extremely wispy faint tails of the outer spiral arms.
This faint barred spiral galaxy was first discovered in 1865 by the German astronomer Heinrich Louis d’Arrest. In his career, Heinrich also notably discovered asteroid 76 Freia and many other galaxies and also contributed to the discovery of Neptune.
If you are located in the northern hemisphere with a large telescope, you may be able to observe the ghostly appearance of this faint galaxy within the faint constellation Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair).
Notes
Spiral galaxies they form a kind of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Kingdom of Nebulae[1] and as such they are part of the Hubble sequence. Most spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas, and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as the bulge. These are often surrounded by a much dimmer halo of stars, many of which reside in globular clusters.
A barred spiral galaxy it is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure made up of stars.[1] The bars are found in about half of all spiral galaxies.[2][3] Bars generally affect the movements of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies and can also affect the spiral arms.[2] the Milky Way The galaxy, where our own Solar System is located, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy.
Heinrich Louis d’Arrest (August 13, 1822 – June 14, 1875; German pronunciation: [daˈʁɛ] [1]) was a German astronomer, born in Berlin. His name is sometimes given as Heinrich Ludwig d’Arrest.
