The superwind galaxy NGC 4666

Eso_eso1036a_1024

eso_eso1036a September 1st, 2010

Credit: ESO/J. Dietrich

This visible light image, made with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows the galaxy NGC 4666 in the centre. It is a starburst galaxy, about 80 million light-years from Earth, in which particularly intense star formation is taking place. The starburst is thought to be caused by gravitational interactions with neighbouring galaxies, including NGC 4668, visible to the lower left. A combination of supernova explosions and strong winds from massive stars in the starburst region drives a vast outflow of gas from the galaxy into space — a so-called “superwind”. NGC 4666 had previously been observed in X-rays by the ESA XMM-Newton space telescope, and these visible light observations were made to target background objects detected in the earlier X-ray images. This picture, which covers a field of 16 by 12 arcminutes, is a combination of twelve CCD frames, 67 megapixels each, taken through blue, green and red filters.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1036a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 4666
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Activity > Starburst
Eso_eso1036a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 45m 8.7s
DEC = 0° 27’ 43.4”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
15.6 x 12.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (R) 651.0 nm
Green MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (V) 539.0 nm
Blue MPG-2.2m (WFI) Optical (B) 451.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Green
Blue
Eso_eso1036a_1280
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ID
eso1036a
Subject Category
C.5.3.3  
Subject Name
NGC 4666
Credits
ESO/J. Dietrich
Release Date
2010-09-01T12:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1036a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Distance in light years from ESO.
Facility
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
Instrument
WFI, WFI, WFI
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
R, V, B
Central Wavelength
651, 539, 451
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
191.286166, -0.462044
Reference Dimension
3946.0, 3168.0
Reference Pixel
1819.70242444, 1579.96824859
Scale
-6.604047e-05, 6.604047e-05
Rotation
-0.00375999933
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.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
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso1036a
Metadata Date
2010-08-12T10:55:55+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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