THE LURE OF THE RINGS (STScI-PRC04-15)

FOR RELEASE: April 22, 2004

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC04-15

THE LURE OF THE RINGS

Resembling a diamond-encrusted bracelet, a ring of brilliant blue star
clusters wraps around the yellowish nucleus of what was once a normal
spiral galaxy in this new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
(HST). This image is being released to commemorate the 14th anniversary
of Hubble's launch on April 24, 1990 and its deployment from the space
shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990. The galaxy, cataloged as
AM 0644-741, is a member of the class of so-called "ring galaxies." It
lies 300 million light-years away in the direction of the
southern constellation Dorado. The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys
was used to take this image in January 2004.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)
Acknowledgment: J. Higdon (Cornell U.) and I. Jordan (STScI)

To see and read more, please visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2004/15
http://heritage.stsci.edu/2004/15

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is operated by
the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.
(AURA), for NASA, under contract with the Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project
of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space
Agency (ESA).

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