... But when photographed in the ultraviolet (UV), as shown above in false color, the galaxy sports an ultraviolet halo - shown as violet in the photograph. ... In a report released yesterday and soon to be published in Nature, astronomers have imaged an interesting distant patch of sky with the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. ... Sirius: The Brightest Star in the Night . ... As Sirius is 8.7 light years distant, it is not the closest star system -- the Alpha Centauri system holds this distinction. ...