Supernova blast bonanza in nearby galaxy

Esahubble_heic0402a_1024

esahubble_heic0402a February 3rd, 2004

Credit: European Space Agency, NASA & Peter Anders (Göttingen University Galaxy Evolution Group, Germany)

The nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 is a hotbed of vigorous star birth activity which blows huge bubbles and super-bubbles that riddle the main body of the galaxy. The galaxy's vigorous "star factories" are also manufacturing brilliant blue star clusters. This galaxy had a sudden and relatively recent onset of star birth 25 million years ago, which subsided about the time the very earliest human ancestors appeared on Earth. In this new image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, The bubble structure is sculpted by the galactic super-winds and outflows caused by a colossal input of energy from collective supernova explosions that are linked with a massive episode of star birth. The bubble-like structures seen in this image are made of hydrogen gas that glows when hit by the fierce winds and radiation from hot young stars and is racked by supernovae shocks. The first supernovae blew up when the most massive stars reached the end of their lifetimes roughly 20-25 million years ago. The environment in NGC 1569 is still turbulent and the supernovae may not only deliver the gaseous raw material needed for the formation of further stars and star clusters, but also actually trigger their birth in the tortured swirls of gas.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0402a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 1569
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Irregular
Galaxy > Size > Dwarf
Esahubble_heic0402a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 4h 30m 50.2s
DEC = 64° 50’ 57.6”
Orientation
North is 176.5° CCW
Field of View
0.9 x 0.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Camelopardalis

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (WFPC2) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (H-alpha) 658.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (V) 555.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFPC2) Ultraviolet (U) 336.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Red
Green
Blue
Esahubble_heic0402a_1280
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ID
heic0402a
Subject Category
C.5.1.6   C.5.2.2  
Subject Name
NGC 1569
Credits
European Space Agency, NASA & Peter Anders (Göttingen University Galaxy Evolution Group, Germany)
Release Date
2004-02-03T15:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0402a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Distance in light years from NED
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2
Color Assignment
Red, Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Optical, Optical, Ultraviolet
Bandpass
I, H-alpha, V, U
Central Wavelength
814, 658, 555, 336
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
67.7090642, 64.8493381
Reference Dimension
1065.0, 771.0
Reference Pixel
533.5, 386.5
Scale
1.37843719395e-05, 1.39258047374e-05
Rotation
176.5
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS info from NASA/Hubble
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
heic0402a
Metadata Date
2004-01-26T09:01:18+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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