Hubble Spots 'Rebel' Galaxy

First Posted: Jan 25, 2016 01:38 PM EST

NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of a group of irregular galaxies and NGC 5408 is among these indefinable shaped galaxies, according to NASA report. NGC 5408 is an irregular shaped galaxy that is 16 million light-years from the Earth and it is found in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur).

Galaxies tend to possess spiral and elliptical shapes. However, about a quarter of galaxies break away from conventional features, where they sport messy and indefinable shapes and features.

NGC 5408 was initially recorded in June 1834 by John Herschel, a renowned English astronomer. For many years, astronomers mistaken identified NGC 5408 for a planetary nebula, which is an expelled cloud of material that is released from an aging star.

Apart from NGC 5408 breaking away from conventional galaxy features, it is also connected with an object known as an ultraluminous X-ray source, dubbed NGC 5408 X-1, which is one of the most studied among its class. These unusual objects are released from massive amounts of energetic X-rays. Astronomers believe that these are strong sources for generating intermediate-mass black holes. These types of black holes have less mass compared to supermassive black holes that are found in the center if many galaxies, whose masses are billions of times greater than the sun.

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TagsHubble Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Stars, Galaxy, Galaxies, galaxy clusters, astronomy, Astronomers, astronomical observations, Solar System, space, NASA, aging stars, old stars, ESA, Light Years, Black Hole, Supermassive Black hole, Supermassive black holes