Spiral Galaxy NGC 7456 in Grus | Hubble Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy NGC 7456 in Grus | Hubble Space Telescope

While it may appear unassuming at first glance, just another spiral galaxy among thousands in the Universe, the subject of this Hubble Space Telescope picture has plenty to study. NGC 7456 is its name, located over 51 million light-years away in the constellation Grus (the Crane).

In this image we see in fine detail the patchy spiral arms of this galaxy, followed by clumps of dark, obscuring dust. Blossoms of glowing pink are rich reservoirs of gas where new stars are forming, illuminating the clouds around them and causing the gas to emit this tell-tale red light. The Hubble program collecting this data is focused on stellar activity just like this, tracking new stars, clouds of hydrogen and star clusters to learn how the galaxy has evolved through time.

Hubble, with its ability to capture visible, ultraviolet and a portion of infrared light, is not the only observatory focused on NGC 7456. The European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton satellite has imaged X-rays from the galaxy on multiple occasions, discovering a number of so-called ultraluminous X-ray sources. These small, compact objects emit terrifically powerful X-rays, much more than would be expected for their size. Astronomers are still trying to pin down what powers these extreme objects, and NGC 7456 contributes a few more examples.

On top of that, the region around the galaxy’s supermassive black hole is spectacularly bright and energetic, making NGC 7456 an active galaxy. Whether looking at its core or its outskirts, at visible light or X-rays, this galaxy has something interesting to show!

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It shines brightly at the center, and most of its disc also glows in warm colors. Its two spiral arms wind outwards from the center. They are made up mostly of large patches of bright blue specks. They also contain thin, reddish clouds of dust, and bright pink bubbles of glowing gas, where stars are forming. Distant galaxies can be seen around the galaxy as small orange spots, on a dark background.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker
Release Date: Sept. 1, 2025

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