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Esahubble_potw1349a_1024

esahubble_potw1349a December 9th, 2013

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Luca Limatola

This new Hubble image shows a handful of galaxies in the constellation of Eridanus (The River). NGC 1190, shown here on the right of the frame, stands apart from the rest; it belong to an exclusive club known as Hickson Compact Group 22 (HCG 22). There are four other members of this group, all of which lie out of frame: NGC 1189, NGC 1191, NGC 1192, and NGC 1199. The other galaxies shown here are nearby galaxies 2MASS J03032308-1539079 (centre), and dCAZ94 HCG 22-21 (left), both of which are not part of HCG 22. Hickson Compact Groups are incredibly tightly bound groups of galaxies. Their discoverer Paul Hickson observed only 100 of these objects, which he described in his HCG catalogue in the 1980s. To earn the Hickson Compact Group label, there must be at least four members each one fairly bright and compact. These short-lived groups are thought to end their lives as giant elliptical galaxies, but despite knowing much about their form and destiny, the role of compact galaxy groups in galactic formation and evolution is still unclear. These groups are interesting partly for their self-destructive tendencies. The group members interact, circling and pulling at one another until they eventually merge together, signalling the death of the group, and the birth of a large galaxy. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Luca Limatola.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1349a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
2MASS J03032308-1539079 dCAZ94 HCG 22-21 HCG 22 NGC 1190
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy
Esahubble_potw1349a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 3h 3m 23.7s
DEC = -15° 39’ 28.2”
Orientation
North is 145.8° CCW
Field of View
2.5 x 1.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Eridanus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (WFPC2) Infrared (I) 814.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (B) 450.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Green
Blue
Esahubble_potw1349a_1280
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ID
potw1349a
Subject Category
C.5  
Subject Name
2MASS J03032308-1539079, dCAZ94 HCG 22-21, HCG 22, NGC 1190
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Luca Limatola
Release Date
2013-12-09T10:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1349a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
NED
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Infrared, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
I, V, B
Central Wavelength
814, 606, 450
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
45.8487858343, -15.6578250937
Reference Dimension
1480.0, 763.0
Reference Pixel
740.0, 381.0
Scale
-2.77676727922e-05, 2.77676727922e-05
Rotation
145.81999999999991
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
potw1349a
Metadata Date
2013-08-09T13:16:22+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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