A Peek into The Past

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

Video imagery:

·       Hubble image of galaxy HIPASS J1131, aka "Peekaboo": NASA, ESA, Igor Karachentsev (SAO RAS); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

·        Hubble image of galaxy HIPASS J1131, with inset showing galaxy detail: NASA, ESA, Igor Karachentsev (SAO RAS); Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Writer: Leah Ramsay

Designer: Leah Hustak, Joseph Olmsted

Science review: Dr. Frank Summers

Education review: Jim Manning

Music from Music for Non-Profits

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Images of galaxies and star clusters which permeate the universe.

 

Title, "News from the Universe."

 

Text, December 9, 2022. Title, "A Peek into the Past." Text, A galaxy illuminates its brilliance against the black sky. Four extensive rays shoot out from the heart of this insentient entity.

 

Text, This tiny galaxy has been nicknamed "Peekaboo" for its emergence in the past 50 to 100 years from behind the glare of a fast-moving star.

 

Though it's nearby, the Peekaboo Galaxy's stars and chemical makeup look more like it belongs in the distant, early universe.

 

It has almost none of the chemical enrichment and older stars that are typically found in the local universe.

 

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was able to resolve about 60 stars in the tiny galaxy.

 

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The cluster of stars emits a deep blue hue.

 

The Peekaboo Galaxy is like a direct window into the past, allowing study of an extreme environment at a level of detail that is inaccessible in the distant, early universe.

 

This news was brought to you in part by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.