Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
UGC 5460, a stunning barred spiral galaxy, lies 60 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
This image combines four wavelengths of light, revealing the galaxy’s central bar, winding arms, and bright star clusters.
A star just 577 light-years away appears in the upper left, sitting far closer than UGC 5460 but sharing the frame.
UGC 5460 hosted two recent supernovae—SN 2011ht and SN 2015as, making it a prime target for supernova studies.
SN 2015as was a core-collapse supernova, where a massive star’s core ran out of fuel and collapsed, triggering an explosion.
Representative pic
Hubble observations will track how the supernova’s shockwave interacts with surrounding gas, offering insight into star deaths.
SN 2011ht might have been a luminous blue variable, a rare type of star that mimics a supernova but survives the explosion.
Scientists will search for a surviving star at SN 2011ht’s location—if one remains, it was a luminous blue variable, not a true supernova.
Studying UGC 5460’s supernovae helps astronomers unravel the life cycles of massive stars and their explosive endings.
Representative pic