The Hubble Space Telescope captured galaxy NGC 7513 speeding away from us at a rate of roughly 1,564 kilometers per second
The Hubble Space Telescope captured galaxy NGC 7513 speeding away from us at a rate of roughly 1,564 kilometers per second, or nearly 1,000 miles per second. This is because of the fact that the Universe is always expanding and it drives many objects in space farther away.
The Hubble Space Telescope is operated by NASA and ESA.
The space agency explained: "This galaxy is moving at the astounding speed of 1564 kilometers per second, and it is heading away from us. For context, the Earth orbits the Sun at about 30 kilometers per second. Though NGC 7513’s apparent movement away from the Milky Way might seem strange, it is not that unusual."
According to BGR.com's report, while galaxies like Milky Way and Andromeda are caught in each other's gravitational pull, the vast majority of galaxies in our Universe appear to be moving away from each other.
According to the scientists, the constant expansion of the Universe still needs a lot of research. They can calculate the rate at which the universe is expanding, but understanding the whys and hows of that process are a great deal more difficult. The fact that the galaxy you see above is cruising away from our own system at such a remarkable speed is simply a byproduct of that expansion, and all we can do is sit back and watch it happen.
