An intriguing young-looking dwarf galaxy

Esahubble_potw1511a_1024

esahubble_potw1511a March 16th, 2015

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Alessandra Aloisi (STScI) and Nick Rose

The bright streak of glowing gas and stars in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is known as PGC 51017, or SBSG 1415+437. It is type of galaxy known as a blue compact dwarf. This particular dwarf is well studied and has an interesting star formation history. Astronomers initially thought that SBS 1415+437 was a very young galaxy currently undergoing its very first burst of star formation, but morerecent studies have suggested that the galaxy is in fact a little older, containing stars over 1.3 billion years old. Starbursts are an area of ongoing research for astronomers short-lived and intense periods of star formation, during which huge amounts of gas within a galaxy are hungrily used up to form newborn stars. They have been seen in gas-rich disc galaxies, and in some lower-mass dwarfs. However, it is still unclear whether all dwarf galaxies experience starbursts as part of their evolution. It is possible that dwarf galaxies undergo a star formation cycle, with bursts occurring repeatedly over time. SBS 1415+437 is an interesting target for another reason. Dwarf galaxies like this are thought to have formed early in the Universe, producing some of the very first stars before merging together to create more massive galaxies. Dwarf galaxies which contain very few of the heavier elements formed from having several generations of stars, like SBS 1415+437, remain some of the best places to study star-forming processes similar to those thought to occur in the early Universe. However, it seems that our nearby patch of the Universe may not contain any galaxies that are currently undergoing their first burst of star formation. A version of this image was entered into theHubbles Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Nick Rose.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1511a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
PGC 51017
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Size > Dwarf
Esahubble_potw1511a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 14h 17m 1.7s
DEC = 43° 30’ 23.4”
Orientation
North is 75.7° CCW
Field of View
3.4 x 1.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Bootes

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Cyan Hubble (ACS) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Orange Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (ACS) Optical (H-alpha) 658.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Cyan
Orange
Red
Esahubble_potw1511a_1280
×
ID
potw1511a
Subject Category
C.5.2.2  
Subject Name
PGC 51017
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Alessandra Aloisi (STScI) and Nick Rose
Release Date
2015-03-16T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1511a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Cyan, Orange, Red
Band
Optical, Infrared, Optical
Bandpass
V, I, H-alpha
Central Wavelength
606, 814, 658
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
214.257118226, 43.5065128178
Reference Dimension
4044.0, 1968.0
Reference Pixel
2022.0, 984.0
Scale
-1.39090924878e-05, 1.39090924878e-05
Rotation
75.740000000000109
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
potw1511a
Metadata Date
2014-09-17T10:49:18+02:00
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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