Unsuspected Guest | Space Wallpaper

By Space.com Staff
published

tidal dwarf galaxy candidate space wallpaper
A previously unsuspected tidal dwarf galaxy candidate (upper left) appears only in the ultraviolet, indicating the presence of many hot young stars as seen in this cool space wallpaper. (Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ESO/JPL-Caltech/DSS)

A previously unsuspected tidal dwarf galaxy candidate (upper left) appears only in the ultraviolet, indicating the presence of many hot young stars as seen in this cool space wallpaper. IC 4970, the small disk galaxy interacting with NGC 6872, is located above the spiral's central region. The spiral is 522,000 light-years across from the tip of one outstretched arm to the tip of the other, which makes it about five times the size of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. This image was released Jan. 10, 2013.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.