A Close Galactic Pair: Galaxies NGC 4302 & NGC 4298 | Hubble

A Close Galactic Pair: Galaxies NGC 4302 & NGC 4298 | Hubble

This image displays the galaxies NGC 4302—seen edge-on—and NGC 4298, both located 55 million light-years away. The galaxy NGC 4298 is seen almost face-on, allowing us to see its spiral arms and the blue patches of ongoing star formation and young stars. In the edge-on disc of NGC 4302 huge swathes of dust are responsible for the mottled brown patterns, but a burst of blue to the left side of the galaxy indicates a region of extremely vigorous star formation.

The image is a mosaic of four separate captures from Hubble, taken between January 2 and 22, 2017, that have been stitched together to give this amazing field of view. Two different types of light emitted by the galaxies—visible and near-infrared—have been combined to give a rich and colorful image. This light was captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, one of the telescope’s most advanced imaging instruments.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and M. Mutchler of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Release Date: April 20, 2017

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