December 4, 2024

Day 3 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar

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A telescopic view of a hazy galaxy lined with lanes of dust that form a rough wavy pattern
A telescopic view of a hazy galaxy lined with lanes of dust that form a rough wavy pattern
ESA / Hubble & NASA, L. Kelsey

Day 3 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: The Hubble Space Telescope brings us this nearly edge-on view of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4753. Lenticular galaxies have an elliptical shape and ill-defined spiral arms. NGC 4753 sits about 60 million light-years from Earth, and is believed to have merged with a nearby dwarf galaxy about 1.3 billion years ago, creating the distinctive wavy dust lanes around its nucleus.

See the full advent calendar here, as a new image will be revealed each day until December 25.

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