What may first appear as a sunny side up egg is actually NASA Hubble Space Telescope's face-on snapshot of the small spiral galaxy NGC 7742. But NGC 7742 is not a run-of-the-mill spiral galaxy. In fact, this spiral is known to be a Seyfert 2 active galaxy, a type of galaxy that is probably powered by a black hole residing in its core. The core of NGC 7742 is the large yellow "yolk" in the center of the image. The lumpy, thick ring around this core is an area of active starbirth. The ring is about 3,000 light-years from the core. Tightly wound spiral arms also are faintly visible. Surrounding the inner ring is a wispy band of material, which is probably the remains of a once very active stellar breeding ground.
Credits
Image
AURA, STScI, NASA, Hubble Heritage Project (STScI, AURA)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NGC 7742 |
| Object Description | Face-on Spiral galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 23h 44m 15.85s |
| Dec. Position | 10° 46' 0.9" |
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Distance | 72 million light-years (22 million parsecs) |
| Dimensions | The entire visible galaxy is 36,000 light-years (11,000 parsecs) across. The image is approximately 80 arcseconds across. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Principal Astronomers: C. R. Lynds (NOAO/KPNO), J. A. Westphal (CalTech), Earl O'Neil Jr. (NOAO/KPNO), and collaborators. |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | July 9, 1995, Exposure Time: 1 hour |
| Filters | F336W (U), F555W (V), and F675W (R) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Blue: F336W (U) Green: F555W (V) Red: F675W (R) |
| 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. |
