Spiral galaxy NGC 4945

Eso_eso0931a_1024

eso_eso0931a September 2nd, 2009

Credit: ESO

Seen edge-on, observations of NGC 4945 suggest that this hive of stars is a spiral galaxy much like our own Milky Way, with swirling, luminous arms and a bar-shaped centre. Sites of active star formation, known as HII regions, are seen prominently in the image, appearing bright pink. These resemblances aside, NGC 4945 has a brighter centre that likely harbours a supermassive black hole, which is devouring reams of matter and blasting energy out into space. NGC 4945 is about 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur) and is beautifully revealed in this image taken with data in five bands (B, V, R, H-alpha and S II) with the 2.2-metre MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla. The field of view is 30 x 30 arcminutes. North is up, East is to the left.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0931a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 4945
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Eso_eso0931a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 5m 27.3s
DEC = -49° 28’ 3.8”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
22.0 x 22.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Centaurus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (H-alpha) -
Red MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (R) -
Green MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (V) -
Green MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (Sii) -
Blue MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (B) -
Eso_eso0931a_1280
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ID
eso0931a
Subject Category
C.5.1.1  
Subject Name
NGC 4945
Credits
ESO
Release Date
2009-09-02T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0931a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
Instrument
WFI, WFI, WFI, WFI, WFI
Color Assignment
Red, Red, Green, Green, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
H-alpha, R, V, Sii, B
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
196.363884, -49.46771
Reference Dimension
5538.0, 5538.0
Reference Pixel
2523.37930264, 2989.86633713
Scale
-6.60832e-05, 6.60832e-05
Rotation
0.02113003509
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.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
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso0931a
Metadata Date
2009-08-31T09:35:23+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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