A Dwarf Galaxy Ravaged by Grand Design: NGC 5474 in Ursa Major | Hubble

A Dwarf Galaxy Ravaged by Grand Design: NGC 5474 in Ursa Major | Hubble

The subject of this Hubble image is NGC 5474, a dwarf galaxy located 21 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). This beautiful image was taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

The term "dwarf galaxy" may sound diminutive, but do not let that fool you—NGC 5474 contains several billion stars! However, when compared to the Milky Way with its hundreds of billions of stars, NGC 5474 does seem relatively small.

NGC 5474 itself is part of the Messier 101 Group. The brightest galaxy within this group is the well-known spiral Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, heic0602). This galaxy's prominent, well-defined arms classify it as a "grand design galaxy", along with other spirals Messier 81 (heic0710) and Messier 74 (heic0719).

Also within this group are Messier 101's galactic neighbors. It is possible that gravitational interactions with these companion galaxies have influenced Messier 101's striking shape. Similar interactions with Messier 101 may have caused the distortions visible in NGC 5474.

The Messier 101 Group and our own Local Group reside within the Virgo Supercluster, making NGC 5474 a neighbor in galactic terms.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: June 16, 2014

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