The galactic glory of NGC 2280

This new image of the galaxy NGC 2280 shows the extent of its massive spiral arms that reach far into the surrounding space. These star-filled tentacles taper off into wispy blue clouds of illuminated and glowing gas well away from the central, bright bulge of the galaxy. Found towards the constellation of Canis Major (the Greater Dog), NGC 2280 is thought to be similar in shape to our own Milky Way galaxy.

NGC 2280 whirls in the cosmos about 75 million light-years from us; this snapshot therefore shows the galaxy as it appeared when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.

The very bright stars that sparkle like diamonds in the image, as well as the many other stars of various colours, are all in the foreground of our view, as they lie much closer to us than NGC 2280.

The image was captured with the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (EFOSC2) through three filters (B, V, R). EFOSC2 was attached to the 3.6-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. EFOSC2 has a field of view of 4.1 x 4.1 arcminutes.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:ngc2280-potw
Type:Observation
Release date:3 December 2009, 23:18
Size:1985 x 1990 px

About the Object

Name:Galaxy, NGC 2280
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:75 million light years
Constellation:Canis Major
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.2 MB
Screensize JPEG
178.2 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
187.6 KB
1280x1024
341.7 KB
1600x1200
571.9 KB
1920x1200
766.1 KB
2048x1536
873.2 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):6 44 49.40
Position (Dec):-27° 38' 21.72"
Field of view:5.22 x 5.23 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 1.2° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
440 nmESO 3.6-metre telescope
EFOSC2
Optical
V
547 nmESO 3.6-metre telescope
EFOSC2
Optical
R
643 nmESO 3.6-metre telescope
EFOSC2