HAWK-I image of NGC 1232

NGC 1232 is a spiral galaxy some 65 million light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus (the River). The galaxy is classified as an intermediate spiral galaxy — somewhere between a barred and an unbarred spiral galaxy. An image of this galaxy and its small companion galaxy NGC 1232A in visible light was one of the first produced by ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). HAWK-I has now returned to NGC 1232 to show a different view of it at near-infrared wavelengths.

HAWK-I is one of the most powerful infrared imagers in the world, and this is one of the sharpest and most detailed pictures of this galaxy ever taken from Earth. The filters used were Y (shown in blue), J (in green), H (in muddy brown), and K (in red). The field of view of the image is about 6.4 arcminutes.

Credit:

ESO/P. Grosbøl

About the Image

Id:eso1042g
Type:Observation
Release date:27 October 2010, 12:00
Related releases:eso1042
Size:3644 x 3638 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 1232
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:65 million light years
Constellation:Eridanus
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
5.4 MB
Screensize JPEG
242.8 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
242.2 KB
1280x1024
409.6 KB
1600x1200
649.9 KB
1920x1200
870.7 KB
2048x1536
1.1 MB

Coordinates

Position (RA):3 9 45.48
Position (Dec):-20° 34' 45.65"
Field of view:6.49 x 6.48 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.2° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Infrared
Y
1.02 μmVery Large Telescope
HAWK-I
Infrared
J
1.22 μmVery Large Telescope
HAWK-I
Infrared
H
1.63 μmVery Large Telescope
HAWK-I