NGC 1566
spitzer_sig05-013 September 15th, 2005
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team
This beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1566, located approximately 60 million light-years away in the constellation Dorado was captured by the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS) Legacy Project using the telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC).
The faint blue light is coming from mature stars, while the "glowing" red spiral arms indicate active star formation and dust emission. Much of the active star formation is seen in the two symmetric arms that are reminiscent of other grand design spirals such as the Whirlpool galaxy. The small and very luminous blue nucleus suggests that this is a Seyfert galaxy (a galaxy that is actively emitting radiation from a very small region in its core).
The SINGS image is a four-channel color composite, where blue indicates emission at 3.6 microns, green corresponds to 4.5 microns, and red to 5.8 and 8.0 microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) in this picture has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8 micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features.
Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope
Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2361-sig05-013-NGC-1566
Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA
Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
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Image Details
Distance
Position Details
Color Mapping
| Telescope | Spectral Band | Wavelength | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Spitzer (IRAC) | Infrared (Near-IR) | 3.6 µm |
|
Spitzer (IRAC) | Infrared (Near-IR) | 4.5 µm |
|
Spitzer (IRAC) | Infrared (Mid-IR) | 5.8 µm |
|
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Spitzer (IRAC) | Infrared (Mid-IR) | 8.0 µm |
| The contribution from starlight has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8.0 micron channels to enhance the visibility of dust features. | |||
- ID
- sig05-013
- Subject Category
- C.5.1.1. C.5.3.3.
- Subject Name
- NGC 1566
- Credits
- NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team
- Release Date
- 2005-09-15
- Lightyears
- 60,000,000
- Redshift
- 0.005017
- Reference Url
- http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2361-sig05-013-NGC-1566
- Type
- Observation
- Image Quality
- Good
- Distance Notes
- Distance from Quickfacts. Redshift from NED 2008/11/11
- Facility
- Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
- Instrument
- IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, IRAC
- Color Assignment
- Blue, Green, Red, Red
- Band
- Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
- Bandpass
- Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
- Central Wavelength
- 3600, 4500, 5800, 8000
- Start Time
- Integration Time
- Dataset ID
- Notes
- T
- Coordinate Frame
- ICRS
- Equinox
- J2000
- Reference Value
- 65.0696476555, -54.9319798442
- Reference Dimension
- 974, 974
- Reference Pixel
- 616.293197632, 627.844654083
- Scale
- -0.00020867095017611, 0.00020867095017611
- Rotation
- -124.20503238561
- Coordinate System Projection:
- TAN
- Quality
- Full
- FITS Header
- Notes
- Creator (Curator)
- Spitzer Space Telescope
- URL
- http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
- Name
- Spitzer Space Telescope
- Telephone
- Address
- 1200 E. California Blvd.
- City
- Pasadena
- State/Province
- CA
- Postal Code
- 91125
- Country
- USA
- Rights
- http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
- Publisher
- Spitzer Science Center
- Publisher ID
- spitzer
- Resource ID
- sig05-013.tif
- Resource URL
- http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/uploaded_files/images/0001/6827/sig05-013.tif
- Related Resources
- Metadata Date
- 2012-10-11
- Metadata Version
- 1.1
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
