Hubble spies a UFO

Esahubble_potw1213a_1024

esahubble_potw1213a March 26th, 2012

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a UFO well, the UFO Galaxy, to be precise. NGC 2683 is a spiral galaxy seen almost edge-on, giving it the shape of a classic science fiction spaceship. This is why the astronomers at the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory gave it this attention-grabbing nickname. While a birds eye view lets us see the detailed structure of a galaxy (such as this Hubble image of a barred spiral), a side-on view has its own perks. In particular, it gives astronomers a great opportunity to see the delicate dusty lanes of the spiral arms silhouetted against the golden haze of the galaxys core. In addition, brilliant clusters of young blue stars shine scattered throughout the disc, mapping the galaxys star-forming regions. Perhaps surprisingly, side-on views of galaxies like this one do not prevent astronomers from deducing their structures. Studies of the properties of the light coming from NGC 2683 suggest that this is a barred spiral galaxy, even though the angle we see it at does not let us see this directly. NGC 2683, discovered on 5 February 1788 by the famous astronomer William Herschel, lies in the Northern constellation of Lynx. A constellation named not because of its resemblance to the feline animal, but because it is fairly faint, requiring the sensitive eyes of a cat to discern it. And when you manage to get a look at it, youll find treasures like this, making it well worth the effort. This image is produced from two adjacent fields observed in visible and infrared light by Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys. A narrow strip which appears slightly blurred and crosses most the image horizontally is a result of a gap between Hubbles detectors. This strip has been patched using images from observations of the galaxy made by ground-based telescopes, which show significantly less detail. The field of view is approximately 6.5 by 3.3 arcminutes.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1213a/

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 2683
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Esahubble_potw1213a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 8h 52m 41.2s
DEC = 33° 25’ 28.6”
Orientation
North is 131.5° CW
Field of View
6.3 x 3.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Lynx

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (ACS) Optical (I) -
Pseudocolor Hubble (ACS) Optical (B+I) -
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (B) -
Esahubble_potw1213a_1280
×
ID
potw1213a
Subject Category
C.5.1.1  
Subject Name
NGC 2683
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date
2012-03-26T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1213a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Distance from NED
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Red, Pseudocolor, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
I, B+I, B
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
133.17149957, 33.424606156
Reference Dimension
7564.0, 3919.0
Reference Pixel
3782.0, 1959.0
Scale
-1.39138321026e-05, 1.39138321026e-05
Rotation
-131.49999999999997
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
potw1213a
Metadata Date
2011-11-24T17:39:01+01:00
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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