Astronomers from the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have unveiled breathtaking images of five galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood, taken with the Italian VST (VLT Survey Telescope) in Chile.
These images reveal the shapes, colors, and star distributions of the galaxies in incredible detail, even showing their outermost regions.
The five galaxies range in distance from about 4 million to 30 million light-years from Earth.
Two irregular galaxies, NGC 3109 and Sextans A, sit on the edge of the Local Group, which includes our Milky Way.
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83), a magnificent spiral, is about 15 million light-years away.
The irregular galaxy NGC 5253 is 11 million light-years away, and the spiral galaxy IC 5332 is the most distant at 30 million light-years.
These observations were made using three filters (or colors) as part of the VST-SMASH survey, led by Dr. Crescenzo Tortora from INAF in Naples. The project aims to uncover how galaxies form and evolve.
It studies how stars are created within galaxies and how galaxies grow through mergers with others.
"We want to understand how galaxies form and grow," explains Dr. Tortora. "This includes studying how stars form within galaxies and how galaxies merge to accumulate stars from other sources."
The team is also investigating faint structures and small, dim galaxies orbiting the larger ones. These findings help trace the remnants of galactic interactions and provide insights into how cosmic structures have formed over time.
The VST telescope, with its 2.6-meter mirror, is ideal for capturing wide-field images. It covers an area of the sky four times larger than the full moon and can gather deep data in just 10 hours. To capture the same level of detail with the Hubble Space Telescope would take much longer.
This makes the VST perfect for studying galaxies down to very low brightness levels, which was nearly impossible just a few years ago.
While future telescopes like the Vera Rubin Observatory and the Euclid satellite will reach similar depths, the VST's unique capabilities still make it a valuable tool.
"This is the first time these galaxies have been studied in such depth and detail with consistent data," says Dr. Tortora. "The VST gives us a head start on exploring the mysteries of the universe."
As the team continues analyzing their findings, they expect more exciting results. These observations are not just stunning images -- they're a step forward in understanding how galaxies like our own Milky Way came to be.