Gentle Giant Galaxy

Noirlab_iotw2332a_1024

noirlab_iotw2332a August 9th, 2023

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURAImage processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

In the constellation Sculptor lies this large extended spiral galaxy called NGC 289. Despite being around 75 million light-years away, the light of NGC 289 is stunningly captured here by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The galaxy’s bluish arms reach through the expanse of space over 100,000 light-years, larger than the size of our own Milky Way. It’s classified as a Type II Seyfert galaxy with its ripe collections of star formation and bright core, but it’s also relatively faint. Studies have found that the galaxy contains large amounts of dark matter, which is a common feature of all galaxies with a low surface brightness. Dark matter is yet to be directly observed, which led the US Department of Energy to build the DECam in order to study the nature of dark matter. Since the conclusion of its survey, DECam has been available to other scientists for use, such as for this image of NGC 289.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2332a/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 289
Noirlab_iotw2332a_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 0h 52m 42.2s
DEC = -31° 12’ 17.9”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
13.1 x 13.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Sculptor

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Blanco-4m (DECam) Optical (g) 473.0 nm
Green Blanco-4m (DECam) Optical (r) 642.0 nm
Red Blanco-4m (DECam) Optical (z) 926.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Noirlab_iotw2332a_1280
×
ID
iotw2332a
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 289
Credits
CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURAImage processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
Release Date
2023-08-09T12:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2332a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
Instrument
DECam, DECam, DECam
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
g, r, z
Central Wavelength
473, 642, 926
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None, None, None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
13.176026218754851, -31.204979213345684
Reference Dimension
3000.0, 3000.0
Reference Pixel
1500.0, 1500.0
Scale
-7.27534789041228e-05, 7.27534789041228e-05
Rotation
-0
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NSF's NOIRLab
URL
https://noirlab.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
950 North Cherry Ave.
City
Tucson
State/Province
AZ
Postal Code
85719
Country
USA
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
NSF's NOIRLab
Publisher ID
noirlab
Resource ID
iotw2332a
Metadata Date
2024-12-09T11:02:14.209602
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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