Arp 274, also known as NGC 5679, is a system of three galaxies that appear to be partially overlapping in the image, although they may be at somewhat different distances. The spiral shapes of two of these galaxies appear mostly intact. The third galaxy (to the far left) is more compact, but shows evidence of star formation.
Two of the three galaxies are forming new stars at a high rate. This is evident in the bright blue knots of star formation that are strung along the arms of the galaxy on the right and along the small galaxy on the left.
The largest component is located in the middle of the three. It appears as a spiral galaxy, which may be barred. The entire system resides at about 400 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was used to image Arp 274. Blue, visible, and infrared filters were combined with a filter that isolates hydrogen emission. The colors in this image reflect the intrinsic color of the different stellar populations that make up the galaxies. Yellowish older stars can be seen in the central bulge of each galaxy. A bright central cluster of stars pinpoint each nucleus. Younger blue stars trace the spiral arms, along with pinkish nebulae that are illuminated by new star formation. Interstellar dust is silhouetted against the starry population. A pair of foreground stars inside our own Milky Way are at far right.
Credits
NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Arp 274, NGC 5679 |
| Object Description | Triple galaxy system |
| R.A. Position | 14h 35m 8.82s |
| Dec. Position | 05° 21' 30.79" |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Distance | 400 million light-years or 120 megaparsecs |
| Dimensions | The image is nearly 2 arcminutes (216,000 light-years) wide. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble images were created from HST data from proposals : M. Livio (STScI), Z. Levay, L. Frattare, K. Noll, M. Mutchler, and W. Januszewski (Hubble Heritage Team/STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | April 1 - 2, 2009 |
| Filters | F450W (B), F606W (V), F673N (redshifted H-alpha), and F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFPC2 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. One filter was used to sample narrowband emission. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Red: F673N (redshifted H-alpha) + F814W (I) Green: F606W (V) Blue: F450W (B) |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
