Mid-UV Survey
Press Releases & Pretty Pictures

Aug 22, 2002: What's the nature of UGC 05028?

The background of the HST Mid-UV web-pages features the image of interacting galaxy pair UGC 05029 (Sbc; top) + UGC 05028 (SBdm/Pec; right), also known as Arp 300. Most of the recent star formation in both members of the pair is located on the sides facing each other (the bright blue-white OB associations).
Ground-based seeing hides most of the peculiar nature of UGC 05028. Vigorous star formation is going on not only in the asymmetric (lopsided) spiral arm but also in the central bar-like structure.
The nature of the bright orange-red "knot" in UGC 05028 remains uncertain. It may indicate a heavily obscured region of intense star formation. But another explanation that fits the data would be that the knot is the remnant of a small early-type galaxy. If UGC 05028 is in fact a merging system, the difference in color between the knot and the remainder of UGC 05028 would result from the difference in stellar populations.

Credits: R.A. Jansen & the HST Mid-UV Team / NASA

Nov 01, 2001: Hubble Reveals Ultraviolet Galactic Ring

The appearance of a galaxy can depend strongly on the color of the light in which it is viewed. This Hubble Heritage image of NGC 6782 illustrates a pronounced example of this effect. This spiral galaxy, when seen in visible light, exhibits tightly wound spiral arms that give it a pinwheel shape similar to that of many other spirals. However, when the galaxy is viewed in ultraviolet light with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, its shape is startlingly different.

For the full text of this press release, click here.

Credits: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Acknowledgement: R.A. Windhorst (ASU)

Jan 11, 2001: Hubble's Ultraviolet Views of Nearby Galaxies Yield Clues to Early Universe

Astronomers are using these three Hubble telescope images of nearby galaxies to help tackle the question of why their distant relatives have such odd shapes, appearing markedly different from the typical "ellipticals" and "spirals" seen in the nearby universe. By viewing these galaxies in ultraviolet light, astronomers can compare their shapes with those of their distant relatives. The results of their survey support the idea that astronomers are detecting the "tip of the iceberg" of very distant galaxies. Based on these Hubble ultraviolet images, not all the faraway galaxies necessarily possess intrinsically odd shapes.

For the full text of this press release, click here.

Credits: NASA, Rogier Windhorst (ASU) and the Hubble mid-UV Team

Oct 1996: The Beauty of Nature in Ultraviolet Light

This near-ultraviolet (U) image of barred spiral galaxy UGC 12343 shows off the beauty of its young stellar population. The picture was presented to the Pope in October 1996.

Credits: R. Boyle (S.J.), C. Burg-Chiarenza, R.S. de Jong & R.A. Windhorst