Post #380

The ultra-diffuse galaxy GAMA 526784 shines in this week’s HubbleFriday! Residing in the constellation Hydra, this wispy object is located roughly four billion light-years from Earth. Ultra-diffuse galaxies have a plethora of peculiarities. They can have either very low or high amounts of dark matter, the invisible substance thought to make up the majority of matter in the universe. These galaxies also contain an abundance of bright globular star clusters, something not observed in other types of galaxies. Hubble captured GAMA 526784’s with the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which was installed in 2002 by astronauts during Hubble's Servicing Mission 3B. Since then, the instrument has played a pivotal role in some of Hubble’s most impressive scientific results, including capturing the Hubble Ultra Deep Field.