Galactic soup

Esahubble_potw1432a_1024

esahubble_potw1432a August 11th, 2014

Credit: Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a whole host of colourful and differently shaped galaxies; some bright and nearby, some fuzzy, and some so far from us they appear as small specks in the background sky. The most prominent characters are the two galaxies on the left 2MASX J16133219+5103436 at the bottom, and its blue-tinted companion SDSS J161330.18+510335 at the top. The latter is slightly closer to us than its partner, but the two are still near enough to one another to interact. Together, the two make up a galactic pair named Zw I 136. Both galaxies in this pair have disturbed shapes and extended soft halos. They dont seem to conform to our view of a typical galaxy unlike the third bright object in this frame, a side-on spiral seen towards the right of the image. Astronomers classify galaxies according to their appearance and their shape. The most famous classification scheme is known as the Hubble sequence, devised by its namesake Edwin Hubble. One of the great questions in galaxy evolution is how interactions between galaxies trigger waves of star formation, and why these stars then abruptly stop forming. Interacting pairs like this one present astronomers with perfect opportunities to investigate this. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Judy Schmidt.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1432a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
2MASX J16133219+5103436 SDSS J161330.18+510335 Zw I 136
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Galaxy > Grouping > Pair
Esahubble_potw1432a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 16h 13m 31.8s
DEC = 51° 3’ 20.0”
Orientation
North is 99.6° CCW
Field of View
2.3 x 1.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Hercules

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Ultraviolet (U) 336.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Optical (R) 625.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Esahubble_potw1432a_1280
×
ID
potw1432a
Subject Category
C.5.1.7   C.5.5.1  
Subject Name
2MASX J16133219+5103436, SDSS J161330.18+510335, Zw I 136
Credits
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Release Date
2014-08-11T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1432a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Ultraviolet, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
U, B, R
Central Wavelength
336, 438, 625
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
243.382609119, 51.0555590607
Reference Dimension
3454.0, 2698.0
Reference Pixel
1727.0, 1349.0
Scale
-1.09799952608e-05, 1.09799952608e-05
Rotation
99.599999999999937
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
potw1432a
Metadata Date
2014-02-04T15:13:41+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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