Galactic politics

Esahubble_potw1549a_1024

esahubble_potw1549a December 7th, 2015

Credit: NASA & ESA, Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)

Only rarely does an astronomical object have a political association. However, the spiral galaxy NGC 7252 acquired exactly that when it was given an unusual nickname. In December 1953, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a speech advocating the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. This Atoms for Peace speech was significant for the scientific community, as it brought nuclear research into the public domain, and NGC 7252, which has a superficial resemblance to an atomic nucleus surrounded by the loops of electronic orbits, was dubbed the Atoms for Peace galaxy in honour of this. These loops are well visible in a wider field of view image. This nickname is quite ironic, as the galaxys past was anything but peaceful. Its peculiar appearance is the result of a collision between two galaxies that took place about a billion years ago, which ripped both galaxies apart. The loop-like outer structures, likely made up of dust and stars flung outwards by the crash, but recalling orbiting electrons in an atom, are partly responsible for the galaxys nickname. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the inner parts of the galaxy, revealing a pinwheel-shaped disc that is rotating in a direction opposite to the rest of the galaxy. This disc resembles a spiral galaxy like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but is only about 10 000 light-years across about a tenth of the size of the Milky Way. It is believed that this whirling structure is a remnant of the galactic collision. It will most likely have vanished in a few billion years time, when NGC 7252 will have completed its merging process.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1549a/

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 7252
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Esahubble_potw1549a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 22h 20m 44.4s
DEC = -24° 40’ 41.5”
Orientation
North is 12.2° CCW
Field of View
2.2 x 2.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Aquarius

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (WFC3) Infrared (J) 1.1 µm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (g) 475.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (u) 336.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Green
Blue
Esahubble_potw1549a_1280
×
ID
potw1549a
Subject Category
C.5.1.7  
Subject Name
NGC 7252
Credits
NASA & ESA, Acknowledgements: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Release Date
2015-12-07T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1549a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
J, g, u
Central Wavelength
1100, 475, 336
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
335.185067485, -24.6781932219
Reference Dimension
3364.0, 3197.0
Reference Pixel
1682.0, 1598.5
Scale
-1.09907907165e-05, 1.09907907165e-05
Rotation
12.159999999999997
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
potw1549a
Metadata Date
2019-10-07T11:40:29.433508
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In