by For over three decades, the tireless Hubble Space Telescope has provided amazing insights into the universe’s innumerable mysteries, helping astronomers, physicists, and scientists of all kinds understand more about galaxies, exoplanets, moons, and stars than ever before.
Take a look at this classic galactic tableau originally captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2012 (NASA released it recently this month) to point out how perspective optical tricks can change our conclusions about what appears to be the truth.
Focus on the crowded cloud of stars in the center of this stunning image. What you see is the galaxy ESO 318-13 in the southern constellation Antlia (Pump). The small ESO 318-13, located about 30 million light-years from Earth and affectionately known as the Glitter Galaxy, is an oval-shaped irregular dwarf galaxy that is about 1% of the mass of the Milky Way.
“ESO 318-13 is sandwiched between a huge collection of bright celestial objects,” NASA officials wrote in a June 15 photo description. (opens in new tab). “Several stars near and far blender relative to the fine dust in the galaxy.”
Here, ESO 318-13 is placed between an impressive spread of ultralight celestial objects. Many neighboring stars that shine both close and far capture our eyes compared to the welded family of the Glitter Galaxy, especially one copy with high wattage right in the middle.
“One that stands out in particular is located near the center of the image, and looks like an extremely bright star located in the galaxy. However, this is a trick for perspective,” NASA wrote. “The star is located in the Milky Way, our own galaxy, and it shines so brightly because it is so much closer to us than ESO 318-13.”
The colorful glowing disks that dot the rest of the picture frame are galaxies that spin even further away. With a view to the upper right corner, a conspicuous elliptical galaxy can be clearly observed that is far more massive than ESO 318-13, but which is at an even greater distance.
And in the case of overlapping galaxies, we can see a remote spiral galaxy trying to be noticed through the virtually dust-free expanse of ESO 318-13 on the far right of this sweeping image in false colors.
For more amazing constellations, check out our list of the best space and astronomy books.
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