The surroundings of the interacting galaxy NGC 5291

The spectacular aftermath of a 360 million year old cosmic collision is revealed in great detail in this image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory. Among the debris surrounding the elliptical galaxy NGC 5291 at the centre is a rare and mysterious young dwarf galaxy, which appears as a bright clump towards the right of the image. This object is providing astronomers with an excellent opportunity to learn more about similar galaxies that are expected to be common in the early Universe, but are normally too faint and distant to be observed by current telescopes.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso1547a
Type:Observation
Release date:9 December 2015, 12:00
Related releases:eso1547
Size:3010 x 2086 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 5291
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Constellation:Centaurus
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.5 MB
Screensize JPEG
218.3 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
262.1 KB
1280x1024
386.4 KB
1600x1200
535.2 KB
1920x1200
623.7 KB
2048x1536
836.8 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):13 47 19.40
Position (Dec):-30° 24' 4.50"
Field of view:12.65 x 8.76 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 90.0° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
Optical
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Infrared
I
Very Large Telescope
FORS2