Feeling the strain

Esahubble_potw1134a_1024

esahubble_potw1134a August 22nd, 2011

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA 

NGC 2146 is classified as a barred spiral due to its shape, but the most distinctive feature is the dusty spiral arm that has looped in front of the galaxy's core as seen from our perspective. The forces required to pull this structure out of its natural shape and twist it up to 45 degrees are colossal. The most likely explanation is that a neighbouring galaxy is gravitationally perturbing it and distorting the orbits of many of NGC 2146s stars. It is probable that we are currently witnessing the end stages of a process which has been occurring for tens of millions of years. NCG 2146 is undergoing intense bouts of star formation, to such an extent that it is referred to as a starburst galaxy. This is a common state for barred spirals, but the extra gravitational disruption that NGC 2146 is enduring no doubt exacerbates the situation, compressing hydrogen-rich nebulae and triggering stellar birth. Measuring about 80 000 light-years from end to end, NGC 2146 is slightly smaller than the Milky Way. It lies approximately 70 million light-years distant in the faint northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). Although it is fairly easy to see with a moderate-sized telescope as a faint elongated blur of light it was not spotted until 1876 when the German astronomer Friedrich Winnecke found it visually using just a 16 cm telescope. This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through a near-infrared filter (F814W, coloured blue and orange/brown) were combined with images taken in a filter that isolates the glow from hydrogen gas (F658N, coloured red). An additional green colour channel was also created by combining the two to help to create a realistic colour rendition for the final picture from this unusual filter combination. The total exposure times were 120 s and 700 s respectively and the field of view is covers 2.6 x 1.6 arcminutes.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1134a/

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 2146
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Galaxy > Type > Barred
Esahubble_potw1134a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 6h 18m 37.2s
DEC = 78° 21’ 29.0”
Orientation
North is 79.5° CW
Field of View
2.6 x 1.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Camelopardalis

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) -
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (Pseudogreen) -
Orange Hubble (ACS) Infrared (I) -
Red Hubble (ACS) Optical (H-alpha) -
Esahubble_potw1134a_1280
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ID
potw1134a
Subject Category
C.5.1.1   C.5.1.2  
Subject Name
NGC 2146
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA 
Release Date
2011-08-22T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1134a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Distance in light years from NED
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Orange, Red
Band
Infrared, Optical, Infrared, Optical
Bandpass
I, Pseudogreen, I, H-alpha
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
94.6551316793, 78.3580514901
Reference Dimension
3147.0, 1972.0
Reference Pixel
1573.5, 986.0
Scale
-1.39407256523e-05, 1.39407256523e-05
Rotation
-79.540000000000134
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
potw1134a
Metadata Date
2011-06-18T23:46:36+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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