[ad_1]
NASA has released a photo of a distant “cinnamon bun” in space, made of stars and gas dust gathered together in an unusual way. The image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, which observed the faint galaxy in which it is far away in the Andromeda constellation. Despite its appearance, NASA claims that the “cinnamon bun” is a spiral galaxy.
The cinnamon bun is officially known as the galaxy UGC 12588; it is a faint galaxy located in a group of galaxies, but it has a unique feature that distinguishes it from the group. According to astronomers, UGC 12588 is a spiral galaxy even though it doesn’t look like it.
Spiral galaxies are called spiral galaxies because of their typically prominent “arms” made of gas and stars that spiral outward from the denser center. When it comes to UGC 12588, however, the arms are wrapped around the center of the galaxy, which, combined with their faint nature, makes the galaxy look like a sphere.
NASA describes the white and reddish appearance, as well as the shape, similar to a “cinnamon bun”, the cute nickname of the galaxy. The space agency often refers to celestial bodies and clusters with nicknames that refer to their general appearance: there was the “greater pumpkin” which revealed for Halloween, for example.
As for the “cinnamon bun”, this image was made possible by NASA and ESA’s joint effort on Hubble, the old space telescope that will soon be replaced. As with other space images, anyone can download the high resolution version of this image from the NASA website.
Source link
