This spiral galaxy is located at a distance of about 32 million light-years from Earth

Jul 15, 2014 22:55 GMT  ·  By
NGC 1433 is a spiral galaxy located at a distance of about 32 million light-years from our planet
   NGC 1433 is a spiral galaxy located at a distance of about 32 million light-years from our planet

Not too long ago, the Hubble Space Telescopes obtained this image of a galaxy that astronomers say is not all that far from us and whose core is stunningly luminous.

According to Phys Org, this galaxy is currently being investigated as part of a research program dubbed the Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS, for short).

Its official name is NGC 1433, and astronomers estimate that it is located at a distance of about 32 million light-years from our planet. Given the immensity of space, this makes it a nearby galaxy.

Scientists say that, apart from its nearly perfect spiral shape, what makes NGC 1433 stand out is the fact that it is a fairly rare Seyfert galaxy.

Investigations have shown that this particular type of galaxies are about as common as 1 in 10, and not only sport cores that are about as bright as our entire Milky Way, but are surprisingly active too.

Studies on Seyfert galaxies are still ongoing, and scientists with NASA, ESA and other organizations whose working agenda includes space exploration are yet to make head and tail of their structure and behavior.

Still, word has it that the ultraviolet radiation originating from these galaxies is produced by disks of in-falling material that surround their central black holes.