A River of Hydrogen

Nrao_nrao_gallery032_1024

nrao_NRAO_Gallery032  

Credit: D.J. Pisano (WVU); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); Palomar Observatory – Space Telescope Science Institute 2nd Digital Sky Survey (Caltech); Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope

This composite image contains three distinct features: the bright star-filled central region of galaxy NGC 6946 in optical light (blue), the dense hydrogen tracing out the galaxys sweeping spiral arms and galactic halo (orange), and the extremely diffuse and extended field of hydrogen engulfing NGC 6946 and its companions (red). The new GBT data show the faintly glowing hydrogen bridging the gulf between the larger galaxy and its smaller companions. This faint structure is precisely what astronomers expect to appear as hydrogen flows from the intergalactic medium into galaxies or from a past encounter between galaxies.

Provider: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Image Source: https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/a-river-of-hydrogen/

Curator: NRAO/AUI/NSF, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 6946 Fireworks Galaxy Arp 29 Caldwell 12
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral

Distance

Universescale2
22,000,000 light years
Nrao_nrao_gallery032_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 20h 34m 52.3s
DEC = 60° 9’ 13.2”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
1.5 x 1.5 degrees
Constellation
Cygnus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue 48-in Samuel Oschin Telescope Optical (B) 471.0 nm
Red GBT Radio (L) 211.2 mm
Orange WSRT Radio (L) 281.1 mm
Spectrum_ir2
Blue
Red
Orange
Nrao_nrao_gallery032_1280
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ID
NRAO_Gallery032
Subject Category
C.5.1.1  
Subject Name
NGC 6946, Fireworks Galaxy, Arp 29, Caldwell 12
Credits
D.J. Pisano (WVU); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); Palomar Observatory – Space Telescope Science Institute 2nd Digital Sky Survey (Caltech); Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope
Release Date
Lightyears
22E+06
Redshift
22E+06
Reference Url
https://public.nrao.edu/gallery/a-river-of-hydrogen/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
48-in Samuel Oschin Telescope, GBT, WSRT
Instrument
Color Assignment
Blue, Red, Orange
Band
Optical, Radio, Radio
Bandpass
B, L, L
Central Wavelength
471, 2.112072E+08, 2.811207254147E+08
Start Time
2013-03-24T21:40:08-04:00, 2009-05-09T00:00:00.0, 2002-04-04T00:00:00.0
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
308.71805000000, 60.15367800000
Reference Dimension
5400, 5400
Reference Pixel
2700.99269482892, 2699.82766131793
Scale
-0.00027767707, 0.00027767707
Rotation
0.00047446739
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.2 revision 218+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
NRAO/AUI/NSF
URL
https://public.nrao.edu
Name
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Email
outreach@nrao.edu
Telephone
Address
520 Edgemont Road
City
Charlottesville
State/Province
Virginia
Publisher
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Publisher ID
nrao
Resource ID
Metadata Date
2018-04-12T19:06:18+00:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
22,000,000 light years

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