Astronomers used this panel of single-color images to construct the colorful picture of the ring of star clusters surrounding the core of the galaxy NGC 1512. These pictures were taken by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Faint Object Camera (FOC), Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS).
Each image represents a specific color or wavelength region of the spectrum, from ultraviolet to near infrared, and shows the wide wavelength region covered by Hubble. Celestial bodies emit light in a variety of wavelengths, anywhere from gamma rays to radio waves. Astronomers chose these colors to emphasize important details in the ring of young star clusters surrounding the core.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and D. Maoz (Tel-Aviv University and Columbia University)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NGC 1512 |
| Object Description | Barred spiral galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 04h 3m 54.29s |
| Dec. Position | -43° 20' 56.0" |
| Constellation | Horologium |
| Distance | 9.2 million pc (30 million light-years) |
| Dimensions | The galaxy is 70,000 light-years across. The circumnuclear starburst ring is 2,400 light-years wide. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Principal Astronomers: D. Maoz (Tel-Aviv University/Columbia University), A. J. Barth (Harvard CfA), L. C. Ho (Carnegie Obs.), A. Sternberg (Tel-Aviv University and A. V. Filippenko (UC Berkeley). Members of the group of scientists involved in these observations are: Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel and Columbia University, USA), Aaron J. Barth (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA), Luis C. Ho (The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, USA), Amiel Sternberg (Tel-Aviv University, Israel) and Alexei V. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley, USA). |
| Instrument | HST>FOC, HST>NICMOS, and HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | July 18, 1993 (FOC), July 29, 1998 (NICMOS), and March 5, 1999 (WFPC2) |
| Filters | FOC: F220W (2200Å) WFPC2: F336W (U), F658N (redshifted Ha), F547M (Strömgren y), and F814W (I) NICMOS: F160W (1.6mm), and F187W (1.8mm) |
| 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. |
