NASA's Hubble Telescope Spots Mysterious Dim Galaxy Hidden In Space

A new image captured by the NASA and European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope is drawing attention to a faint and unusual galaxy located far beyond the Milky Way, reported NASA. The image shows the galaxy UGC 477, which is located more than 110 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces, also known as The Fish. UGC 477 is known as a low surface brightness (LSB) galaxy, meaning it appears much fainter than typical galaxies like the Milky Way or Andromeda.

Scientists first proposed the existence of LSB galaxies in 1976 through the work of Mike Disney. However, their existence was confirmed only in 1986 after the discovery of Malin 1. These galaxies are spread out more diffusely than normal galaxies and can be extremely difficult to detect because their surface brightness can be up to 250 times fainter than the night sky.

Astronomers said most of the matter found in LSB galaxies exists in the form of hydrogen gas instead of stars. Unlike regular spiral galaxies, the centres of these galaxies do not contain large numbers of stars.

Researchers suspect this happens because LSB galaxies are usually found in isolated regions with fewer nearby galaxies. As a result, they experience fewer galactic interactions and mergers, which are events that often trigger high levels of star formation.

Scientists also believe galaxies like UGC 477 are largely dominated by dark matter, making them important for studying the mysterious substance. However, because of their very low brightness, these galaxies were often missed in earlier galactic surveys, and their scientific importance has only been understood in recent years.