At the centre of the tuning fork

Esahubble_potw1544a_1024

esahubble_potw1544a November 2nd, 2015

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Grogin (STScI) Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (http://www.geckzilla.com/)

This galaxy is known as Mrk 820 and is classified as a lenticular galaxy type S0 on the Hubble Tuning Fork. The Hubble Tuning Fork is used to classify galaxies according to their morphology. Elliptical galaxies look like smooth blobs in the sky and lie on the handle of the fork. They are arranged along the handle based on how elliptical they are, with the more spherical galaxies furthest from the tines of the fork, and the more egg-shaped ones closest to the end of the handle where it divides. The two prongs of the tuning fork represent types of unbarred and barred spiral galaxies. Lenticular galaxies like Mrk 820 are in the transition zone between ellipticals and spirals and lie right where the fork divides. A closer look at the appearance of Mrk 820 reveals hints of a spiral structure embedded in a circular halo of stars. Surrounding Mrk 820 in this image is good sampling of other galaxy types, covering almost every type found on the Hubble Tuning Fork, both elliptical and spiral. Most of the smears and specks are distant galaxies, but the prominent bright object at the bottom is a foreground star called TYC 4386-787-1. 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/potw1544a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Mrk 820
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Lenticular
Esahubble_potw1544a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 14h 40m 5.7s
DEC = 31° 30’ 8.5”
Orientation
North is 62.6° CCW
Field of View
3.1 x 1.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Bootes

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (606W) 595.0 nm
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (606W) 595.0 nm
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (814W) 784.0 nm
Red Hubble (ACS) Optical (814W) 784.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Green
Red
Esahubble_potw1544a_1280
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ID
potw1544a
Subject Category
C.5.1.3  
Subject Name
Mrk 820
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA and N. Grogin (STScI) Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (http://www.geckzilla.com/)
Release Date
2015-11-02T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1544a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Green, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
606W, 606W, 814W, 814W
Central Wavelength
595, 595, 784, 784
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
220.023924929, 31.5023749846
Reference Dimension
3749.0, 1958.0
Reference Pixel
1874.5, 979.0
Scale
-1.38857421108e-05, 1.38857421108e-05
Rotation
62.6
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
potw1544a
Metadata Date
2015-06-17T11:12:31+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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