First VLT colour photo of a strange galaxy

This is a colour photo from the VLT that shows NGC 4650A, a member of the so-called Centaurus chain of galaxies in the southern constellation of that name. NGC 4650A is a complex system that is located at a distance of about 50 Megaparsec (165 million light-years). As it is clear from this high-resolution picture, there are two main components, a lenticular-shaped galaxy (of type S0), surrounded by a knotty extended ring-like distribution of stars, dust and gas, nearly perpendicular to each other.

This is a combination of three 10-min B (blue) exposures (seeing 0.68 - 0.82 arcsec), two 10-min V (green-yellow) exposures (0.55 and 0.77 arcsec), and one 4-min and one 10-min R (red) exposures (0.55 and 0.52 arcsec) with the VLT Test Camera. Individual frames were flat-fielded and cleaned for cosmics, combined and deconvolved with the Richardson-Lucy algorithm to produce a final FWHM = 0.53 arcsec before colour combination. The field measures 1.5 x 1.5 arcmin. North is to the upper left; East is to the lower left.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso9825a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:23 juin 1998
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso9825
Taille:2152 x 2456 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:NGC 4650A
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Ring
Distance:150 million années lumière
Constellation:Centaurus
Catégorie:Galaxies

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
287,8 Kio

Fonds d'écran

1024x768
69,2 Kio
1280x1024
99,6 Kio
1600x1200
134,9 Kio
1920x1200
161,2 Kio
2048x1536
200,8 Kio

Coordinates

Position (RA):12 44 48.95
Position (Dec):-40° 42' 49.41"
Field of view:1.23 x 1.41 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 45.8° left of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
Visible
B
Very Large Telescope
Visible
V
Very Large Telescope
Visible
R
Very Large Telescope