NGC 1672 (without SN)

This image depicts NGC 1672, a spiral galaxy in Dorado, and was created using six Hubble images taken over fifteen years. Here, the single Hubble image which showed the supernova SN 2017GAX has been omitted, replaced by a different Hubble image that was filtered to capture light of the same wavelength, but taken earlier. Compare with the main image, which does include that supernova snapshot.

You might also notice, if you look very closely between this and the main image, that the larger stars you can see in the bottom-left quadrant seem to shift position a little, even though the galaxy and smaller stars don’t move. That’s because these are both composite images made up of several separate images from Hubble, taken over a span of time. Between the particular frame included in this image which does not show the supernova, and the frame included in the main image which does, there is a gap of twelve years! The stars you see moving lie between Earth and NGC 1672, most likely in the Milky Way galaxy, which is close enough that over twelve years’ time we can begin to notice their motion relative to us.

Also try comparing the two images directly with our slider tool here.

[Image Description: A spiral galaxy with an oval-shaped disc. Two large arms curve out away from the ends of the disc. The arms are traced by bright pink patches where stars are forming and by dark reddish threads of dust. The core is very bright and star-filled. Some large stars appear in front of the galaxy.]