The Smooth Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841

Spitzer_sig09-006_1024

spitzer_sig09-006 April 30th, 2009

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This latest image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is of the spiral galaxy, NGC 2841. Located about 46 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, this spectacular galaxy is helping astronomers solve one of the oldest puzzles in astronomy: Why do galaxies look so smooth, with stars sprinkled evenly throughout? An international team of astronomers has discovered that rivers of young stars flow from their hot, dense stellar nurseries, dispersing out to form the large, smooth distribution that we see in spiral galaxies like this one.

This image is a composite of three different wavelengths from Spitzer's infrared array camera . The shortest wavelengths are displayed in blue, and mostly show the older stars in NGC 2841, as well as foreground stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. The cooler areas are highlighted in red, and show the dusty, gaseous regions of the galaxy. Blue shows infrared light of 3.6 microns, green represents 4.5-micron light and red, 8.0-micron light. The contribution from starlight measured at 3.6 microns has been subtracted from the 8.0-micron image to enhance the visibility of the dust features.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1589-sig09-006-Why-Are-Galaxies-So-Smooth-

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 2841
Subject - Milky Way
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Galaxy > Activity > Normal

Distance

Universescale2
46,000,000 light years
Spitzer_sig09-006_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 9h 22m 2.5s
DEC = 50° 58’ 38.8”
Orientation
North is 51.0° CW
Field of View
10.9 x 5.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Spitzer_sig09-006_1280
×
ID
sig09-006
Subject Category
B.5.1.1.   B.5.3.1.  
Subject Name
NGC 2841
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2009-04-30
Lightyears
46,000,000
Redshift
0.002128
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1589-sig09-006-Why-Are-Galaxies-So-Smooth-
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
857.6, 857.6, 857.6
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
140.51048411132737, 50.977446607403415
Reference Dimension
1750, 940
Reference Pixel
875, 470
Scale
-1.0403e-04, 1.0403e-04
Rotation
-50.98
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig09-006.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-06
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
46,000,000 light years

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