The galaxy, also known as LEDA 27077, UGC 5079, and IRAS 09293+2143, NGC 2903, lies approximately 30 million light-years away in the constellation Leo.
It was discovered on November 16, 1784 by the British astronomer William Herschel and has an extremely high rate of creating new stars in its central region.
"This image of NGC 2903 was captured using Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), which were installed on the telescope in 2002 and 2009 respectively," the Hubble astronomers explain.
The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 9.7 so it can be seen with small telescopes.
“Interestingly, Hubble has observed this particular galaxy before, in 2001, when neither ACS nor WFC3 had been installed yet. The 2021 image has a higher resolution, which means that NGC 2903 has finer details than in the 2001 image .
“Hubble has a long and fascinating history of crewed servicing missions, which were performed to correct imperfections in Hubble's mirror, upgrade Hubble's technical systems, and remove old instruments and install new ones . One of the most notable features of Hubble is its incredible longevity, and this would not have been possible with the great success of servicing missions ”, conclude those responsible for the historic telescope.
