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Hubble Spies Sparkling Galaxy

Sparkling-white galaxy pgc 29388 against black backdrop of space
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, T. Armandroff

As beautiful as the surrounding space may be, the sparkling galaxy in the foreground of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope undeniably steals the show.

This spotlight-hogging galaxy, seen set against a backdrop of more distant galaxies of all shapes and sizes, is known as PGC 29388. Although it dominates in this image, this galaxy is a small player on the cosmic stage and is known as a dwarf elliptical galaxy. As the “dwarf” moniker suggests, the galaxy is on the smaller side, and boasts a “mere” 100 million to a few billion stars — a very small number indeed when compared to the Milky Way's population of around 250 billion to 400 billion stellar residents.

Text credit: ESA (European Space Agency)

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Last Updated
Oct 04, 2023
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