The Space Image of The Week Presents: The Lenticular Galaxy NGC 6684
This week’s showcase space image is the lenticular galaxy NGC 6684. Are you searching for its spiral arms? Then you might be in for quite the hunt, because it doesn’t have any!
Features of Lenticular Galaxies
Lenticular galaxies resemble large eyes. They have exhausted their interstellar medium, meaning that most matter between the stars in a galaxy has disappeared. As a result, lenticular galaxies experience little star formation. They primarily comprise older stars. Did you know that approximately thirteen to fifteen percent of all galaxies in our universe are lenticular in shape?
About NGC 6684
The NGC 6684 is situated 44 million light-years away from Earth and found in the southern constellation Pavo. This galaxy does not possess any dark dust lanes, making it appear somewhat elusive and ghostly. Below, you can explore the magnificent Hubble image of this celestial object.
Efforts to Capture All Nearby Galaxies
Scientists use the Hubble telescope to photograph all galaxies close to Earth. Before initiating this ‘census’, Hubble had captured roughly 75% of all galaxies located within 32.6 million light-years from Earth. This number has now significantly increased. The aim is to capture all 153 missing galaxies. NGC 6684, albeit located just outside the 33 million light-years zone, was nevertheless included in this endeavor by the researchers.
