Little Galaxy Explored

Spitzer_ssc2010-02a1_1024

spitzer_ssc2010-02a1 January 5th, 2010

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

The infrared portrait of the Small Magellanic Cloud, taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, reveals the stars and dust in this galaxy as never seen before. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a nearby satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, approximately 200,000 light-years away.

The image shows the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which is comprised of the "bar" on the left and a "wing" extending to the right. The bar contains both old stars (in blue) and young stars lighting up their natal dust (green/red). The wing mainly contains young stars. In addition, the image contains a galactic globular cluster in the lower left (blue cluster of stars) and emission from dust in our own galaxy (green in the upper right and lower right corners).

The data in this image are being used by astronomers to study the lifecycle of dust in the entire galaxy: from the formation in stellar atmospheres, to the reservoir containing the present day interstellar medium, and the dust consumed in forming new stars. The dust being formed in old, evolved stars (blue stars with a red tinge) is measured using mid-infrared wavelengths. The present day interstellar dust is weighed by measuring the intensity and color of emission at longer infrared wavelengths. The rate at which the raw material is being consumed is determined by studying ionized gas regions and the younger stars (yellow/red extended regions). The Small Magellanic Cloud, and its companion galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, are the two galaxies where this type of study is possible, and the research could not be done without Spitzer.

This image was captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer (blue is 3.6-micron light; green is 8.0 microns; and red is combination of 24-, 70- and 160-micron light). The blue color mainly traces old stars. The green color traces emission from organic dust grains (mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). The red traces emission from larger, cooler dust grains.

The image was taken as part of the Spitzer Legacy program known as SAGE-SMC: Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Stripped, Low Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2875-ssc2010-02a1-Little-Galaxy-Explored

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
SMC Small Magellanic Cloud NGC 292
Subject - Milky Way
Galaxy > Type > Barred
Galaxy > Size > Dwarf
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale2
197,000 light years
Spitzer_ssc2010-02a1_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 1h 3m 47.5s
DEC = -72° 49’ 9.1”
Orientation
North is 158.6° CCW
Field of View
4.3 x 3.9 degrees
Constellation
Tucana

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Cyan Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Orange Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 24.0 µm
Red Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Far-IR) 70.0 µm
Red Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Far-IR) 160.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Cyan
Green
Orange
Red
Red
Spitzer_ssc2010-02a1_1280
×
ID
ssc2010-02a1
Subject Category
B.5.1.2.   B.5.2.2.   B.4.1.2.  
Subject Name
SMC, Small Magellanic Cloud, NGC 292
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI
Release Date
2010-01-05
Lightyears
197,000
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2875-ssc2010-02a1-Little-Galaxy-Explored
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, MIPS, MIPS, MIPS
Color Assignment
Blue, Cyan, Green, Orange, Red, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR, Far-IR, Far-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 8000, 24000, 70000, 160000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
15.948117957484952, -72.819196856758424
Reference Dimension
7801, 7021
Reference Pixel
3901, 3511
Scale
-5.5495350911e-4, 5.5495350911e-4
Rotation
158.642368838
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2010-02a1.jpg
Metadata Date
2011-09-02
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
197,000 light years

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