- A spiral
galaxy nicknamed "Eye of the Serpent" is 35 million light-years from Earth. - The $4 recently snapped a photo of the galaxy, which is about half the width of the Milky Way and has a supermassive black hole at its center.
Thirty-five million light-years away sits a mammoth spiral galaxy.
Its distinct arms, where stars and gas are compressed, create the illusion of an eye — which is why astronomers call it the "Eye of the Serpent."
The
The Eye of the Serpent is located near the Hydra constellation, the largest constellation in our view of the night sky. Although it's too dim to be seen with the naked eye, it can be spotted using any telescope with an aperture $4.
The galaxy is a little more than half as wide as our own Milky Way, which is also spiral galaxy. At its heart is a supermassive black hole with a mass millions of times greater than the sun.
The flecks of bright blue in the
NASA launched Hubble into Earth's orbit in April 1990 to discover new planets, reveal
In the coming decade, NASA plans to launch $4 — named after NASA pioneers James Webb and Nancy Grace Roman — that can image more of our universe in even greater detail.
The 'Eye of the Serpent' isn't the only galaxy Hubble spotted lately
In July, NASA released a Hubble photograph of $4. That galaxy, called NGC 2775, is about twice as far from Earth as "Eye of the Serpent" — 67 million light-years away.
NGC 2775 doesn't seem to be forming stars anymore. Astronomers can tell that's the case because of the relatively empty, clear bulge at the galaxy's center.
The arms spinning around this galaxy's center are "flocculent" — meaning fluffy and feathery-looking — due to dark lines of dust and puffs of gas clouds.
Millions of young stars shine bright blue through the haze.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen contributed reporting.