Nota de prensa
RETRATO DE UNA FAMILIA CÓSMICA
4 de Noviembre de 2005
Una fotografía captada por el Very Large Telescope de ESO en Cerro Paranal (II Región de Chile), muestra detalles asombrosos de un grupo de galaxias conocidas como el Cuarteto de Robert.
El Cuarteto de Robert es una peculiar familia de galaxias ubicada a 160 millones de años luz, muy cerca del centro de la constelación de Fénix. Está compuesto por cuatro galaxias principales, descubiertas por John Herschel en la década de 1830.
Durante el período de prueba del instrumento FORS2 en Cerro Paranal, un grupo de astrónomos internacionales apuntó uno de los espejos gigantes de 8,2 metros del VLT hacia el Cuarteto de Robert.
El resultado fue una foto que muestra detalles asombrosos de los agitados miembros de esta familia cósmica:
NGC 87 (arriba a la derecha) es una galaxia irregular, muy parecida a las dos galaxias vecinas de nuestra Vía Láctea: las Nubes de Magallanes.
NGC 88 (centro) es una galaxia espiral con un envoltorio externo difuso, probablemente compuesto por gas.
NGC 89 (abajo al medio) es otra galaxia espiral con dos largos brazos.
El mayor integrante de la familia, NGC 92 (izquierda), es una galaxia espiral de apariencia inusual. Uno de sus brazos, que mide unos 100 mil años luz, contiene grandes cantidad de polvo y está distorsionado por las interacciones en su interior.
Este cuarteto es uno de los más bellos ejemplos de un grupo compacto de galaxias. En general, estos grupos contienen entre cuatro y ocho galaxias en un área muy pequeña, por lo que resultan excelentes laboratorios para estudiar las interacciones entre galaxias y los efectos en la formación de estrellas.
Usando otros datos obtenidos por el VLT, los astrónomos fueron capaces de estudiar las propiedades de ciertas regiones activas de formación de estrellas en los miembros del cuarteto. Se encontraron más de 200 de estas regiones en NGC 92. En NGC 87 se detectaron otras 56 zonas de formación estelar. Las otras dos galaxias son comparativamente menos activas: en NGC 88 se encontraron dos estructuras en forma de penacho, mientras que en NGC 89 se detectó un anillo que muestra mayor actividad estelar.
El sistema en general indica un incremento de la formación estelar, probablemente como resultado de la interacción entre sus agitados miembros.
El cuarteto tiene un magnitud visual de casi 13, lo que quiere decir que es 600 veces más débil de lo que puede apreciar el ojo humano. En el cielo, las cuatro galaxias abarcan un área de 75 mil años luz de extensión.
Contactos
Henri Boffin
ESO
Garching, Germany
Teléfono: +49 89 3209 6222
Correo electrónico: hboffin@eso.org
Francisco Rodríguez (Contacto para medios de comunicación en Chile)
Red de Difusión Científica de ESO
y European Southern Observatory
Teléfono: +56-2-463-3151
Correo electrónico: eson-chile@eso.org
Acerca de la nota de prensa
| Nota de prensa No.: | eso0535es-cl |
| Legacy ID: | Photo 34a-b/05 |
| Nombre: | Roberts's Quartet |
| Tipo: | Local Universe : Galaxy |
| Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
| Instruments: | FORS2 |
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