Hubble captures stunning images of our galaxy's fraternal twin, NGC 6744

[caption id=“attachment_4868081” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] It looks identical to the Milky Way at first glance. But this galaxy — NGC 6744 — is housed 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Pavo (The Peacock). It’s galactic disk is tilted towards our line of sight, making it convenient to view with a good telescope. Above is a composite image of NGC 6744 captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 using its remarkable capabilities across the visible, UV and infrared spectra. Whatever be the parallels drawn, the images do little justice to its enormity — NGC 6744 is roughly twice as wide as the galaxy we call home. Image Courtesy: NASA/ESA Hubble[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_4868001” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The galaxy is one of 50 galaxies observed by Hubble’s Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS) project, Hubble’s comprehensive survey to study star formation and the evolution of nearby galaxies in the Universe. The spiral galaxy NGC 6744 was appearing as a faint and extended object in smaller telescopes, and gained interest after it was in 2014 under the WISE program. Image Courtesy: NASA/WISE[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_4868011” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] These latest images capture the galaxy’s dusty spiral arms, painted in shades of pink and blue. The blue in these images are sites dense with young clusters of stars, and the pink regions where active star formation is underway. The spirals of NGC 6744 are part of massive disks where active star formation is common. Not unlike the Milky Way, it has a prominent centre region, visible in yellow, loaded with thousands of old stars. Image Courtesy: NASA/ESA Hubble[/caption]     [caption id=“attachment_4868071” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] According to a recent release by NASA, these images are telling of how lively the galaxy is — very. Lending support to this theory was a supernova they discovered within the NGC 6744 galaxy in 2005, when a giant star collapsed on itself and lost its hydrogen envelope. NASA astronomers also claim that it appears to have a small companion galaxy, much like the Large Magellanic Cloud to our own. Pictured is a digital rendition of what some are calling our ‘fraternal-twin’ galaxy, NGC 6744. Image Courtesy: NASA/Don Goldman[/caption]