The starburst galaxy NGC 908

NGC 908, located 65 million light-years towards the constellation of Cetus (the Whale). This spiral galaxy, discovered in 1786 by William Herschel, is a so-called starburst galaxy, that is, a galaxy undergoing a phase where it spawns stars at a frantic rate. Clusters of young and massive stars can be seen in the spiral arms. Two supernovae, the explosions of massive stars, have been recorded in the near past: one in 1994 and another in May of this year. The galaxy, which is about 75 000 light-years long, also clearly presents uneven and thick spiral arms, the one on the left appearing to go upwards, forming a kind of ribbon. These properties indicate that NGC 908 most probably suffered a close encounter with another galaxy, even though none is visible at present.Data obtained with FORS2 on ESO's Very Large Telescope in the night of 13 to 14 August 2000, using images through B, V, and R filters, for a total exposure time of 4 minutes only. North is up and East is to the left. The data were extracted from the ESO Science Archive and further processed by Henri Boffin (ESO).

Credit:

ESO

Over de afbeelding

Id:eso0627a
Type:Observatie
Publicatiedatum:26 juli 2006
Gerelateerde berichten:eso0627
Grootte:1944 x 1695 px

Over het object

Naam:NGC 908
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : Starburst
Afstand:60 miljoen lichtjaren
Constellation:Cetus
Categorie:Galaxies

Image Formats

Grote JPEG
1,5 MB

Wallpapers

1024x768
353,1 KB
1280x1024
658,2 KB
1600x1200
1,0 MB
1920x1200
1,3 MB
2048x1536
1,8 MB

Coordinates

Position (RA):2 23 4.59
Position (Dec):-21° 14' 2.26"
Field of view:6.31 x 5.50 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° right of vertical

Kleuren & filters

BandGolflengteTelescoop
Optisch
B
440 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optisch
V
557 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optisch
R
655 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2