Скачать или смотреть Asteroid photobombs Hubble image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158

In a fascinating twist during a routine observation, an asteroid unexpectedly made its way into a Hubble Space Telescope image of the barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158. What appears as white streaks across the image is actually the result of multiple time exposures capturing a moving asteroid in the foreground, which unexpectedly photobombed the galaxy's snapshot. The series of images taken by Hubble shows the asteroid's trajectory as a dashed line.

This unique occurrence is due to parallax effects, as Hubble itself orbits Earth. This movement creates the appearance of the asteroid following a curved path across the field of view. The asteroid is located within our Solar System’s asteroid belt, making it dramatically closer to Hubble—about 10 trillion times nearer—than the distant galaxy in the background.

Interestingly, these kinds of images are valuable to scientists. They utilize them to conduct surveys and enhance our understanding of the population and distribution of asteroids within the Solar System, turning a photobombing incident into a serendipitous scientific opportunity.

Credit: NASA, ESA, P. G. Martín (Autonomous University of Madrid), J. DePasquale (STScI). Acknowledgment: A. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley)