Hubble Space Telescope beams back stunning image of Milky Way's 'big sister'

Image of the Milky Way's 'big sister' taken by the Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), shows that the galaxy called NGC 6744 is still actively producing new stars.

Representational image

Washington: The Hubble Space Telescope has beamed back a beautiful image of the Milky Way's 'big sister', a stunning spiral galaxy that measures over 200,000 light-years across, NASA said.

The image, taken by the Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), shows that the galaxy called NGC 6744 is still actively producing new stars.

NGC 6744 resembles our Milky Way, although it is much larger, measuring more than 200,000 light-years across compared to a 100,000 light-year diameter for our home galaxy.

Like the Milky Way, NGC 6744 has a prominent central region packed with old yellow stars.

Moving away from the galactic core, one can see shades of pink and blue in parts of the dusty spiral arms, while the blue sites are full of young star clusters, the pink ones are regions of active star formation, indicating that the galaxy is still very lively.

In 2005, a supernova named SN 2005at was discovered within NGC 6744, adding to the argument of this galaxy's liveliness.

SN 2005at is a Type Ic supernova, formed when a massive star collapses on itself and loses its hydrogen envelope.