marked its 21st anniversary by releasing a . The image captures the beauty of a cosmic event that showcases the telescope's powerful capabilities. Astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, selected an especially striking pair of interacting galaxies, known as Arp 273, to commemorate this milestone.
This celestial portrait focuses on the larger spiral galaxy, UGC 1810. This galaxy's disk has been warped into a rose-like shape due to the gravitational pull of its smaller companion, UGC 1813, located just below it. The resulting image is both scientifically valuable and visually stunning.
This magnificent image is a composite created using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Data for this image was collected on December 17, 2010, using three separate filters encompassing a wide range of wavelengths. These filters include the spectrum's ultraviolet, blue, and red portions, allowing the final image to reveal a rich array of details and colors.
Arp 273 is located in the constellation Andromeda, approximately 300 million light-years away from Earth. The interaction between UGC 1810 and UGC 1813 provides astronomers with an exceptional opportunity to study the effects of gravitational forces on galactic structures. The distorted shape of UGC 1810, resembling a rose, directly results from these tidal interactions.
The Hubble Space Telescope, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, has been orbiting Earth since its launch on April 24, 19.
