Ballet of interacting galaxies

The pair of galaxies NGC 1531/2, engaged in a spirited waltz, is located about 70 million light-years away towards the southern constellation Eridanus (The River). The deformed foreground spiral galaxy laced with dust lanes NGC 1532 is so close to its companion — the background galaxy with a bright core just above the centre of NGC 1532 — that it gets distorted: one of its spiral arms is warped and plumes of dust and gas are visible above its disc. The cosmic dance leads to another dramatic effect: a whole new generation of massive stars were born in NGC 1532 because of the interaction. They are visible as the purple objects in the spiral arms.

This exquisite image was made using the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory, Chile. It is based on data obtained through three different filters: B, V and R. The field of view is 12 x 12 arcmin.

Källa:

ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R.Gendler and J.-E. Ovaldsen

Om bilden

ID:ngc1532
Typ:Observation
Publiceringsdatum:3 december 2009 23:20
Storlek:1920 x 1744 px

Om objektet

Namn:NGC 1531, NGC 1532
Typ:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Lenticular
Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Avstånd:50 miljon ljusår
Constellation:Eridanus
Kategori:Galaxies

Bildformat

Stor jpeg
479,8 kB
Skärmstor jpeg
99,5 kB

Skrivbordsunderlägg

1024x768
132,1 kB
1280x1024
208,8 kB
1600x1200
310,8 kB
1920x1200
425,4 kB
2048x1536
514,5 kB

Koordinater

Position (RA):4 12 4.34
Position (Dec):-32° 52' 27.13"
Field of view:12.62 x 11.46 arcminutes
Orientering:Nord är 45.2° vänster om lodrätt

Färger och filter

BandTeleskop
Synligt ljus
B
Danish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Synligt ljus
V
Danish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Synligt ljus
R
Danish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC