Hubble Captures a Stunning View of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1827

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of the intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1827, located in the constellation Columba, the Dove, about 37 million light-years from Earth.

Hubble observed NGC 1827 as part of a survey examining 260 satellite galaxies surrounding 22 Milky Way-like host galaxies within approximately 32 million light-years of Earth. So far, Hubble has observed 111 of these satellite galaxies. Completing the survey would require 149 additional Hubble orbits—one orbit for each remaining galaxy.

Blue Star-Forming Regions and Dark Dust Lanes

Taken with Hubble’s Advanced Survey Camera, the image reveals bright blue regions scattered across NGC 1827’s disk. Dark dust lanes run through the galaxy, marking areas where new stars may be forming.

A bright foreground star appears just to the left of the galaxy’s central bulge. The star is located between Earth and NGC 1827, rather than within the galaxy itself. Its four prominent diffraction spikes are caused by light bending around the internal support structure that holds Hubble’s secondary mirror.

Why Hubble Studies Low-Mass Galaxies

Low-mass galaxies such as those in this Hubble observing program offer an important way to test small-scale cosmological models—models that can be difficult to reconcile with observations.

The data collected by Hubble will help researchers better understand and characterize the properties of low-mass galaxies in the Milky Way. These findings may help scientists improve cosmological models and explain how smaller galaxies form and evolve.

Media contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
[email protected]