Spiral galaxy ESO 269-57

ESO 269-57 is a spectacular spiral galaxy of symmetrical shape in the southern constellation Centaurus and belongs to a well-known cluster of galaxies seen in this direction. The galaxy received this designation when it was catalogued during the first ESO Survey of the Southern Sky in the 1970's. This photograph shows the complex structure of ESO 269-57, with an inner "ring", of several tightly wound spiral arms, surrounded by two outer ones that appear to split into several branches. Many blue and diffuse objects are visible — most are star-forming regions. The galaxy type is Sa(r). The velocity is just over 3,100 km/sec, indicating a distance of about 155 million light-years. It extends over about 4 arcmin in the sky, corresponding to nearly 200,000 light-years across. Many other galaxies are visible in the background. In this and the other photos, the vertical lines extending from the images of some bright stars result from a "bleeding" effect in the CCD detector where the pixels are completely saturated. This three-colour composite (BVR) was obtained with VLT ANTU and FORS1 in the morning of March 27, 1999. The full field measures 6.8 x 6.8 arcmin 2. North is up and East is to the left.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso9924c
Type:Observation
Release date:30 April 1999
Related releases:eso9924
Size:2045 x 2048 px

About the Object

Name:ESO 269-57
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:150 million light years
Constellation:Centaurus
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
2.1 MB
Screensize JPEG
276.0 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
287.7 KB
1280x1024
503.5 KB
1600x1200
833.1 KB
1920x1200
1.1 MB
2048x1536
1.6 MB

Coordinates

Position (RA):13 10 4.46
Position (Dec):-46° 26' 14.73"
Field of view:6.82 x 6.83 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
Optical
B
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Optical
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Optical
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS1