Galaxy NGC 3810
The bright galaxy NGC 3810 demonstrates classical spiral structure in this very detailed image from Hubble. The bright central region is thought to be forming many new stars and is outshining the outer areas of the galaxy by some margin. Further out the galaxy displays strikingly rich dust clouds along its spiral arms. A close look shows that Hubble’s sharp vision also allows many individual stars to be seen. Hot young blue stars show up in giant clusters far from the centre and the arms are also littered with bright red giant stars.
The original images were acquired by astronomers studying a supernova discovered late in the year 2000. It was the second supernova found in the galaxy in quick succession following another discovered in 1997. NGC 3810 is located about 50 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Leo (the lion). It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 and is easily seen as a faint smudge in small telescopes.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys captured this image of NGC 3810. It was observed through three filters letting through blue, green and near-infrared list respectively (F435W, F555W and F814W). The exposure times were about seven minutes per filter and the field of view is about 3.4 x 1.7 arcminutes.
Galaxy NGC 3810, shown in this image, hosted a Type Ia supernova in 2022. In early 2023, the Hubble Telescope was pointed toward this galaxy and a number of other galaxies to closely study recent Type Ia supernovae.
Type Ia novae are caused by the explosion of a white dwarf and have a very constant peak brightness. This property is harnessed by astronomers to measure distances, as we know the brightness of a type Ia supernova in advance, so we can calculate its distance by measuring how faint its light is
However, intergalactic dust presents an obstacle to this method, blocking some of the supernova light. Therefore, astronomers need to determine the amount of light absorbed by the dust to accurately measure the supernova's brightness and calculate its distance.
Hubble's unique capabilities provide a clever way to solve this problem. Astronomers use Hubble to take images of the same Type Ia supernovae in ultraviolet light, which is almost completely blocked by dust, and infrared light, which passes through dust with little to no effect.
By carefully monitoring the amount of light passing through each wavelength, astronomers can determine how much dust is between Hubble and the supernova. Thus, they can confidently calibrate the relationship between a supernova's brightness and its distance.
Hubble's unique ability to observe ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths of light in high detail using the same instrument is a huge advantage that makes it the ideal instrument for such observations. In fact, some of the data used to take this beautiful image of NGC 3810 focused on the supernova of 2022, which can be seen as a point of light below the galactic core in the image below.
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