Hubble telescope spots ‘hidden’ galaxy with billions of stars, ‘mostly tilted towards us’

The American space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released an image of a galaxy called IC 4633, taken by the NASA-European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope, which is located around 100 million light-years away from us in the constellation Apus. A part of this galaxy had been hidden due to “a stretch of dark dust,” said the ESA.

About the IC 4633

The galaxy is spiral-shaped, rich in star-forming activity, and also hosts an active galactic nucleus at its core, said the ESA, in a statement.

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If seen from our point of view, it would appear that the galaxy is “tilted mostly towards us” which allows astronomers to see its billions of stars, it added.

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However, the space agencies cannot fully view the galaxy and its features – at least in visible light – as it is partially covered by a dark dust cloud.

The cloud in question overlaps IC 4633 and is a part of the Chamaeleon star-forming region which is some 500 light-years from us.

Notably, this region, which is in a nearby part of our Milky Way galaxy, occupies a large area of the southern sky.

'Treasury of young stars'

The European Space Agency also noted that the cloud has been well-studied for its “treasury of young stars, particularly the cloud Cha I, which has been photographed by both Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope.

According to the ESA, the cloud which overlaps the galaxy lies east of the well-known Cha I, II, and III, and is also known as MW9 and the South Celestial Serpent, which has been classified as an integrated flux nebula (IFN).

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IFN, according to space agencies, is a “cloud of gas and dust in the Milky Way galaxy that’s not near to any single star and is only faintly lit by the total light of all the galaxy’s stars”.

It also described the South Celestial Serpent as a “vast, narrow trail of faint gas that snakes over the southern celestial pole and is much more subdued looking than its neighbours,” adding that Hubble has no problem in identifying the IFN. However, the image only captures a tiny part of it.

(With inputs from agencies)