A galaxy with a glowing heart

Esahubble_potw1427a_1024

esahubble_potw1427a July 7th, 2014

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgements: D. Calzetti (UMass) and the LEGUS Team

This view, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 1433. At about 32 million light-years from Earth, it is a type of very active galaxy known as a Seyfert galaxy a classification that accounts for 10% of all galaxies. They have very bright, luminous centres comparable to that of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Galaxy cores are of great interest to astronomers. The centres of most, if not all, galaxies are thought to contain a supermassive black hole, surrounded by a disc of infalling material. NGC 1433 is being studied as part of a survey of 50 nearby galaxies known as the Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS). Ultraviolet radiation is observed from galaxies, mainly tracing the most recently formed stars. In Seyfert galaxies, ultraviolet light is also thought to emanate from the accretion discs around their central black holes. Studying these galaxies in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum is incredibly useful to study how the gas is behaving near the black hole. This image was obtained using a mix of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light. LEGUS will study a full range of properties from a sample of galaxies, including their internal structure. This Hubble survey will provide a unique foundation for future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). ALMA has already caught unexpected results relating to the centre of NGC 1433, finding a surprising spiral structure in the molecular gas close to the centre of NGC 1433. The astronomers also found a jet of material flowing away from the black hole, extending for only 150 light-years the smallest such molecular outflow ever observed in a galaxy beyond our own. Links Black Holes and Revelations (Space Scoop)

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1427a/

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 1433
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Esahubble_potw1427a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 3h 42m 2.3s
DEC = -47° 13’ 20.6”
Orientation
North is 43.1° CW
Field of View
2.8 x 2.4 arcminutes
Constellation
Horologium

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (WFC3) Ultraviolet (U) 336.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (V) 555.0 nm
Orange Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Blue
Green
Orange
Esahubble_potw1427a_1280
×
ID
potw1427a
Subject Category
C.5.1.1  
Subject Name
NGC 1433
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASAAcknowledgements: D. Calzetti (UMass) and the LEGUS Team
Release Date
2014-07-07T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1427a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Red, Blue, Green, Orange
Band
Ultraviolet, Optical, Optical, Infrared
Bandpass
U, B, V, I
Central Wavelength
336, 438, 555, 814
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
55.5097156753, -47.2223912353
Reference Dimension
4183.0, 3572.0
Reference Pixel
2091.0, 1786.0
Scale
-1.10010027403e-05, 1.10010027403e-05
Rotation
-43.099999999999895
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
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
potw1427a
Metadata Date
2014-02-04T15:07:35+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In