About the Object
| Distance: |
25 million light years | |
|---|---|---|
| Constellation: | Leo | |
| Category: | Galaxies Picture of the Month | |
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 10 25 5.64 |
|---|---|
| Position (Dec): | 17° 9' 43.01" |
| Field of view: | 1.97 x 2.02 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 156.2° left of vertical |
Interactive Sky View
Background Survey Options
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
|
Optical
(Blue) V | 606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
|
Optical
(Blue) V | 606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
|
Optical
(Green) I | 814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
|
Optical
(Green) V | 606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
|
Optical
(Red) V | 606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
|
Optical
(Red) I | 814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
Starstruck image of Arp 263
The latest ESA/Webb Picture of the Month is a new, infrared look into the strange final phase of a galactic merger. Arp 263, an irregular galaxy, lies in the constellation Leo at a relatively nearby distance of around 25 million light-years.
This image shows Hubble’s visible-light view of Arp 263, originally released in 2023. Here, “irregular clumps” in the galaxy are revealed to be bright nebulae between its dense clouds of gas, where stars are forming. Milky Way star BD+17 2217 appears in the foreground as a stellar photobomber.
The black region visible in the corners appears because this image was cropped and rotated to align with Webb’s image of the galaxy; see and compare the two images with our slider tool here.
[Image Description: An irregular galaxy that appears like a triangle-shaped patch of tiny stars. It is densest in the centre and along one edge, growing faint out to the opposite corner. Several bright pink patches mark areas of star formation, and the galaxy’s brightest stars are around these. A large, bright star, with two sets of long spikes, stands between the viewer and the galaxy.]
Credit:ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, A. Filippenko
About the Image
| Id: | potm2608b | |
|---|---|---|
| Type: | Observation | |
| Release date: | 27 August 2026, 10:00 | |
| Size: | 3836 x 3940 px | |
