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By Elizabeth Howell published 5 July 22
The newly released image was part of a 2006 survey to learn more about stellar populations in the galaxy.
A newly released Hubble Space Telescope image shows the rim of a galactic "sombrero" shining in the dark.
This galaxy is nicknamed the "Little Sombrero" for its hat-like appearance; its more official name is NGC 7814 or Caldwell 43, depending on the catalog you use.
The dusty spiral takes its name after the more famous Sombrero galaxy, which is positioned a little less edge-on to us and appears brighter because it is closer.
In reality, the two galaxies (Sombrero and Little Sombrero) are nearly the same size, NASA officials wrote in a post (opens in new tab) last month.
Related: The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all time!
"Set against a speckled backdrop of more remote galaxies, the Little Sombrero features a bright central bulge, a thin disk full of dust, and a glowing halo of gas and stars that sprawls out into space," NASA officials stated.
The Little Sombrero, officials added in the May 12 update, "is roughly 40 million light-years from Earth, 80,000 light-years-wide, and billions of years old." By contrast, the Sombrero galaxy is 28 million light-years away.
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The Little Sombrero image was first obtained in 2006 using visible and infrared observations by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. It's quite common for scientists to revisit older images like this as a part of long-term surveys of parts of the sky, or of celestial objects.
"The observations were taken to assist astronomers in studying the galaxy’s stellar populations, and to help shed light on the evolution of this galaxy and others like it," NASA said of the 2006 work.
Hubble itself has been running since 1990, providing more than 32 years of long-term observational change in objects ranging from gas clouds to the outer planets. It is expected to remain operational for several years yet, working in tandem soon with the NASA's next-generation James Webb Space Telescope that launched in December 2021 and that should start operations officially this July.
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Elizabeth Howell, Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022. She was contributing writer for Space.com (opens in new tab) for 10 years before that, since 2012. As a proud Trekkie and Canadian, she also tackles topics like diversity, science fiction, astronomy and gaming to help others explore the universe. Elizabeth's on-site reporting includes two human spaceflight launches from Kazakhstan, three space shuttle missions in Florida, and embedded reporting from a simulated Mars mission in Utah. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, and a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science since 2015. Her latest book, Leadership Moments from NASA, is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday.
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