Twisted spiral galaxy NGC 134

Image obtained with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the spiral galaxy observed by the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik, when at Paranal. NGC 134 is a barred spiral with its spiral arms loosely wrapped around a bright, bar-shaped central region. The red features lounging along its spiral arms are glowing clouds of hot gas in which stars are forming, so-called HII regions. The galaxy also shows prominent dark lanes of dust across the disc, obscuring part of the galaxy's starlight. The image is a colour composite based on data obtained in the B, V, R, and H- filters with the FORS2 instrument attached to Antu, UT1 of the VLT. During his stay on Paranal, the Commissioner, together with the observatory staff, prepared the observations of this Galaxy. At night, Janez Potocnik initiated these observations, and checked the quality of the images as they appeared on the control screens. Because the high-sensitivity detectors used on the VLT measure only the intensity of the light reaching their pixels, the colour information is acquired by taking a sequence of images through different coloured filters. Consequently, the Commissioner could not immediately see the attached image, but only black-and-white version of it. The final colour processing was done by Haennes Heyer and Henri Boffin, with input from Yuri Beletsky (all ESO).

Crediti:

ESO

A proposito dell'immagine

Identificazione:eso0749a
Tipo:Osservazione
Data di pubblicazione:09 Novembre 2007
Notizie relative:eso0749
Dimensione:1562 x 1607 px

A proposito delll'oggetto

Nome:NGC 134
Tipo:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Distanza:60 Milione Anni luce
Constellation:Sculptor
Categoria:Galaxies

Formati delle immagini

JPEG grande
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1920x1200
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2048x1536
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Coordinate

Position (RA):0 30 22.60
Position (Dec):-33° 14' 35.41"
Field of view:6.56 x 6.75 arcminutes
Orientazione:Il Nord è a 90.0° a destra della verticale

Colori e filtri

BandaTelescopio
Ottico
B
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Ottico
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Ottico
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS2