A transformation in Virgo

Esahubble_potw1649a_1024

esahubble_potw1649a December 5th, 2016

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) is especially rich in galaxies, due in part to the presence of a massive and gravitationally-bound collection of over 1300 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. One particular member of this cosmic community, NGC 4388, is captured in this image, as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopes Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Located some 60 million light-years away, NGC 4388 is experiencing some of the less desirable effects that come with belonging to such a massive galaxy cluster. It is undergoing a transformation, and has taken on a somewhat confused identity. While the galaxys outskirts appear smooth and featureless, a classic feature of an elliptical galaxy, its centre displays remarkable dust lanes constrained within two symmetric spiral arms, which emerge from the galaxys glowing core one of the obvious features of a spiral galaxy. Within the arms, speckles of bright blue mark the locations of young stars, indicating that NGC 4388 has hosted recent bursts of star formation. Despite the mixed messages, NGC 4388 is classified as a spiral galaxy. Its unusual combination of features are thought to have been caused by interactions between NGC 4388 and the Virgo Cluster. Gravitational interactions from glancing blows to head-on collisions, tidal influencing, mergers, and galactic cannibalism can be devastating to galaxies. While some may be lucky enough to simply suffer a distorted spiral arm or newly-triggered wave of star formation, others see their structure and contents completely and irrevocably altered.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1649a/

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 4388
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Esahubble_potw1649a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 25m 46.5s
DEC = 12° 39’ 54.5”
Orientation
North is 26.4° CCW
Field of View
2.5 x 1.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Hubble (WFC3) Optical (U) 336.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Orange Hubble (WFC3) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Purple
Blue
Blue
Green
Orange
Esahubble_potw1649a_1280
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ID
potw1649a
Subject Category
C.5.1.1  
Subject Name
NGC 4388
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date
2016-12-05T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1649a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Purple, Blue, Blue, Green, Orange
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
U, B, I, B, I
Central Wavelength
336, 438, 814, 438, 814
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
186.443851148, 12.6651349085
Reference Dimension
3807.0, 2679.0
Reference Pixel
1903.5, 1339.5
Scale
-1.09991841021e-05, 1.09991841021e-05
Rotation
26.38000000000001
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
potw1649a
Metadata Date
2016-05-03T15:32:08+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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