Day 9 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: a dark and dusty galaxy. This Hubble view of NGC 1546, a spiral galaxy about 50 million light-years away, provides good view of dust lanes from slightly above and backlit by the galaxy’s core. This dust absorbs light from the core, reddening it and making the dust appear rusty brown. The core itself glows brightly in a yellowish light, indicating an older population of stars. Brilliant-blue regions of active star formation sparkle through the dust.
See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25.
