A greedy giant

Esahubble_potw1645a_1024

esahubble_potw1645a November 7th, 2016

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

NGC 1222, seen in this image taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST), is a galaxy with a rather eventful story to tell. NGC 1222 has been described as a peculiar example of a type of galaxy known as a lenticular galaxy. Typically, this kind of galaxy would present a rather smooth appearance on the sky and would consist mostly of old, reddish stars. A bit dull, perhaps. But NGC 1222 is certainly not a typical member of its class and its anything but dull. Observations show the characteristic features of very recent star formation on a huge scale an event known as a starburst. The reason for all this violent activity is caused by the fact that NGC 1222 is not alone. It actually contains three compact regions, each of which appears to be the central nucleus of a galaxy. Astronomers think that NGC 1222 is in the process of swallowing up two much smaller dwarf galaxies that strayed too close to it. It is likely that the encounter was the trigger for the starburst in NGC 1222, bringing in fresh supplies of gas that are now fuelling the burst of star formation. Although its peculiarities were first seen in photographic images, these were not able to reveal the level of fine detail that can be recovered by Hubble. The image taken by Hubble allows us to see an astonishing amount of structure in this galaxy, emphasising its colourful history. Against the smooth background of old stars that was the original lenticular galaxy, we can clearly see dark filaments of dust and bright filaments of gas, both associated with the powerful star formation process.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1645a/

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 1222
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Lenticular
Esahubble_potw1645a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 3h 8m 56.8s
DEC = -2° 57’ 19.6”
Orientation
North is 51.9° CCW
Field of View
2.1 x 1.7 arcminutes
Constellation
Eridanus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (g) 475.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (g) 475.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Green
Red
Esahubble_potw1645a_1280
×
ID
potw1645a
Subject Category
C.5.1.3  
Subject Name
NGC 1222
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date
2016-11-07T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1645a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Green, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
g, g, I, I
Central Wavelength
475, 475, 814, 814
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
47.2367937767, -2.95544689203
Reference Dimension
3226.0, 2525.0
Reference Pixel
1613.0, 1262.5
Scale
-1.09916810364e-05, 1.09916810364e-05
Rotation
51.919999999999995
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
potw1645a
Metadata Date
2016-05-03T16:13:30+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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