NGC1614 - HST - Potw2032a
Ring of Stellar Wildfire
NGC 1614, captured here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is an eccentrically-shaped galaxy ablaze with activity. The galaxy resides about 200 million light-years from Earth and is nestled in the southern constellation of Eridanus (The River).
NGC 1614 is the result of a past galactic merger which created its peculiar appearance. The cosmic collision also drove a turbulent flow of interstellar gas from the smaller of the two galaxies involved into the nucleus of the larger one, resulting in a burst of star formation which started in the core and slowly spread outwards through the galaxy.
Owing to its turbulent past and its current appearance, astronomers classify NGC 1614 as a peculiar galaxy, a starburst galaxy, and a luminous infrared galaxy. Luminous infrared galaxies are among the most luminous objects in the local Universe — and NGC 1614 is, in fact, the second most luminous galaxy within 250 million light-years.
Credit:
ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo
CoordinatesPosition Position (RA): 4 34 0.05 Position (Dec): -8° 34' 50.27" Field of view: 2.23 x 2.20 arcminutes Orientation: North is 117.2° left of vertical
Colours & filters Band Wavelength Telescope Optical B 435 nm Hubble Space Telescope ACS Optical V 555 nm Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 Optical I 814 nm Hubble Space Telescope ACS Optical Redshifted H-alpha + N II 665 nm Hubble Space Telescope WFC3.
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NGC 1614NGC 1614 = Arp 186 ist eine verschmelzende Balken-Spiralgalaxie mit aktivem Galaxienkern vom Hubble-Typ SBc/P im Sternbild Eridanus am Südsternhimmel. Sie ist schätzungsweise 209 Millionen Lichtjahre von der Milchstraße entfernt und hat einen Durchmesser von etwa 85.000 Lichtjahren. NGC 1614 befindet sich im Endstadium der Verschmelzung zweier Galaxien. .. weiterlesen