In this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy NGC 7292 ripples with a handful of bright stars and faint blotches of extremely distant galaxies in the background. It is located about 44 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

This galaxy is irregular, meaning that it lacks the distinctive spiral arms or elliptical shape found in some galaxies. Unusually, its nucleus extends in the form of a prominent bar, a feature seen in many spiral galaxies. Besides its hazy shape, NGC 7292 is quite faint. As a result, astronomers classify NGC 7292 as a low surface brightness galaxy, barely distinguishable against the backdrop of the night sky. Such galaxies are typically dominated by gas and dark matter rather than stars.

Astronomers directed Hubble to study NGC 7292 during an observing campaign examining the aftermath of Type II supernovae to learn more about their diversity. These massive explosions occur when a massive star collapses and then violently recoils in a catastrophic explosion that rips the star apart.

Astronomers observed the supernova of NGC 7292 in 1964 and named it SN 1964H. Studying the stellar neighbourhood of SN 1964H helps astronomers estimate the initial mass of the star that went supernova. Observations can help uncover surviving stellar companions that once shared a system with the star that was SN 1964H.

 

Source: nasa.gov/