Hubble Images Galaxy Located at the Edge of The Local Void

Posted on June 15, 2015

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have shared a new image of NGC 6503. This galaxy is located at the edge of The Local Void. The Local Void is described as a strangely empty patch of space that is at least 150 million light-years across.

Astronomers say there are no obvious galaxies found in the Local Void. It doesn't seem to contain much of anything. By some estimates the Local Void may be 230 million light-years long.

Galaxy NGC 6503 was dubbed the "Lost-In-Space galaxy" by stargazer Stephen James O'Meara in his book, Hidden Treasures. The spiral galaxy spans 30,000 light years and is located about 18 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco.

The bright blue regions in the above image contain newly forming stars. High-res versions of the above image can be found here on hubblesite.org.

Hubble also released an image of NGC 6503 in 2010 that featured pink-colored puffs marking recent star formation.


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