A spectacular new vista of the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 4414 has been rendered by astronomers utilizing the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
This Hubble image shows NGC 4414, an unbarred spiral galaxy located 51 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / O. Graur / S.W. Jha / A. Filippenko.
NGC 4414 is situated approximately 51 million light-years from our planet within the celestial sphere of Coma Berenices.
This celestial entity, also recognized by designations such as the Dusty Spiral Galaxy, Ark 365, IRAS 12239+3129, LEDA 40692, or UGC 7539, boasts a galactic diameter spanning roughly 56,000 light-years.
The initial observation of NGC 4414 was recorded on March 13, 1785, by the astute astronomical observations of William Herschel, a German-born British astronomer.
This galaxy is a constituent member of the Coma I Group, an aggregation of galaxies situated in proximity to the Virgo Cluster, and it affiliates with this celestial fraternity.
Hubble previously conducted studies of NGC 4414 in 1995 and 1999 as part of a comprehensive research initiative aimed at scrutinizing Cepheid variable stars.
This collage features supernovae observed by Hubble in NGC 4414. In the top left is a large spiral galaxy is seen tilted diagonally. Each subsequent panel shows a close-up of the galaxy in 1999, 2021, and 2023 to highlight the galaxy’s supernovae. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / O. Graur / S.W. Jha / A. Filippenko.
In a published statement, Hubble astronomers elucidated that “Cepheids represent a distinctive category of variable stars exhibiting exceptionally consistent and predictable fluctuations in brightness.”
They further elaborated, stating, “The periodicity of these variations is directly correlated with intrinsic physical attributes of the stars, such as their mass and absolute luminosity.”
“Consequently,” they continued, “astronomers can ascertain the fundamental physical nature of Cepheids merely by observing the variability in their emitted light, a characteristic that subsequently proves highly effective in determining their spatial separation.”
“It is for this precise reason that cosmologists refer to Cepheids as ‘standard candles’.”
“Hubble has been instrumental in enabling astronomers to observe Cepheids, similar to those residing within NGC 4414, yielding remarkable scientific outcomes.”
“These Cepheids have subsequently served as foundational elements for measuring distances to supernovae, which, in turn, have provided a metric for the overall scale of the cosmos.”
Regarding the universe’s age, they concluded, “Present-day estimations place the age of the universe with a considerably higher degree of accuracy than was conceivable prior to Hubble’s contributions: approximately 13.7 billion years.”
