The starburst galaxy NGC 908

NGC 908, located 65 million light-years towards the constellation of Cetus (the Whale). This spiral galaxy, discovered in 1786 by William Herschel, is a so-called starburst galaxy, that is, a galaxy undergoing a phase where it spawns stars at a frantic rate. Clusters of young and massive stars can be seen in the spiral arms. Two supernovae, the explosions of massive stars, have been recorded in the near past: one in 1994 and another in May of this year. The galaxy, which is about 75 000 light-years long, also clearly presents uneven and thick spiral arms, the one on the left appearing to go upwards, forming a kind of ribbon. These properties indicate that NGC 908 most probably suffered a close encounter with another galaxy, even though none is visible at present.Data obtained with FORS2 on ESO's Very Large Telescope in the night of 13 to 14 August 2000, using images through B, V, and R filters, for a total exposure time of 4 minutes only. North is up and East is to the left. The data were extracted from the ESO Science Archive and further processed by Henri Boffin (ESO).

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ESO

Om bilden

ID:eso0627a
Typ:Observation
Publiceringsdatum:26 juli 2006
Relaterade pressmeddelanden:eso0627
Storlek:1944 x 1695 px

Om objektet

Namn:NGC 908
Typ:Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : Starburst
Avstånd:60 miljon ljusår
Constellation:Cetus
Kategori:Galaxies

Bildformat

Stor jpeg
1,5 MB
Skärmstor jpeg
269,3 kB

Skrivbordsunderlägg

1024x768
353,1 kB
1280x1024
658,2 kB
1600x1200
1,0 MB
1920x1200
1,3 MB
2048x1536
1,8 MB

Koordinater

Position (RA):2 23 4.59
Position (Dec):-21° 14' 2.26"
Field of view:6.31 x 5.50 arcminutes
Orientering:Nord är 0.1° höger om lodrätt

Färger och filter

BandVåglängdTeleskop
Synligt ljus
B
440 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Synligt ljus
V
557 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Synligt ljus
R
655 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2