NGC 1532 - Jabba the hutt learns synchronized swimming
NGC 1532 looks like a nearly edge-on spiral that's been savagely disrupted by dark forces from its small companion toward 11 o'clock, triggering bright blue streaks of star formation in the spiral arms.
We've always seen something like a frog we once found in the swimming pool filter box, executing lazy aquatic ballet manoeuvres, with long legs trailing out and around. Perhaps there's also an element of Jabba the Hutt.
The detail in the bright part of the galaxy is adequate, but we're starting to see that the "signature dish" at Placidus is being able to extract sharp detail in the very faintest structure, and we invite your attention to the discrete blue dots in the outermost, almost invisible parts of the spiral arms, and (in the whole image only) in the irregular dwarf galaxy toward 5 o'clock and half way out. There are just hundreds of other small galaxies scattered around the full image.
In the main image (but cropped out of the thumbnail), there is a faint set of diagonal coloured arcs across the lower half, due to brilliant light from upsilon 4 Eridani (well out of field to the bottom right) bouncing off filters. We've done a fair bit of air-brushing to tame these, so please ignore the bottom third of the big image.
Luminance: 12 hrs, RGB: 2 hrs each channel, all in 30 min subs. New moon. Seeing about 2 sec arc. Full field about half a degree. Aspen CG16M on 20" PlaneWave. Processing mostly with GoodLook 64 but evil upsilon 4 Eridani touch-ups with CS5.
This is one of our absolute favourite interacting pairs. Hope you like it too.
Excellent guys. Only the faintest of hints but I think I'll just take my medication Overall a super image of a galaxy that has never really made me excited...until now ..lovely vibrant colour and one can really sense the turmoil going on in the scene. So many interesting features, great stuff guys...I am getting used to worms....I won't even notice them soon
Excellent guys. Only the faintest of hints but I think I'll just take my medication Overall a super image of a galaxy that has never really made me excited...until now ..lovely vibrant colour and one can really sense the turmoil going on in the scene. So many interesting features, great stuff guys...I am getting used to worms....I won't even notice them soon
Mike
Thanks muchly, Mike. Thought we'd got away with that one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Very nice image of one of my favorite galaxies guys
Cheers
Steve
Hi, Steve! Glad you like it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Wow, the universe keeps on delivering these unique & amazing targets, and your image is terrific!
Well done guys
Thanks Andy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slawomir
Magnificent image M&T. Somehow it reminded me of Executor crashing into Death Star
Thanks Suavi. We're greatly encouraged. Rushed to look up Executor and reason for its crash.
I enjoy your introductional text as much as your imaging result!
Wow, the big one looks as if it's forming a funnel due to to the secondary galaxy mass closing in on the black hole head on!
And what's the bright blue speck, double star with nebula at 12 o'clock? Does it belong to the outmost spiral arm or is it a separate object?
It seems too bright to be part of the galaxy.. as if the area was actually much closer to our viewpoint.
I agree, I like this one a lot. Lovely colour and all those little blue clumps of stars. Do you think they are globs?
I wonder if the LMC distorts arms of the Milky Way in a similar way?
Greg.
It doesn't currently but it will in the future, the Sagitarrius Dwarf Galaxy has caused some minor disruption however. The blue clumps are bouts in intense star formation caused by the interaction between the LMC like object and the main galaxy.
Star formation gets very intense around galactic interactions.
keep coming back to the image.
the outstretched arm can't be aiming outward due to the attack of the dwarf? ?
that arm-effect wouldn't be happening if you throw a stone into a sandpit, would it? the sandpit being the big galaxy, of course.
how about it's more like a sling, still pulling material from outside the galaxy into the "gravitational force field" of the big one?
maybe enhanced by the additional forces of the dwarf?
----
and from the "wall" growing upwards in the back (what I called a "funnel" before), we can calculate the direction from which the dwarf is "thrown into the sandpit". so cool. thanks for sharing!
I like this one! It's a great target very well caught.
Mark
Thanks, Mark!
Quote:
Originally Posted by vlazg
Stunning M&T......as usual.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainjoo
I learn about a new galaxy every time you guys post one, and the interaction seen here is brilliant!
Thanks, Jerome. The deformation and star-formation is impressive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
Very classy, M&T! Some sublime detail in there that I've never noticed before. And only the merest traces of annelids
Cheers,
Rick.
Thrilled that we've shown something a bit different!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
This has got to be one of my favourite images that I've seen come from your observatory! Absolutely an enjoyable image to view
Thanks, Colin. We are much encouraged. Makes up for the fact that the roof opening mechanism is trying to tear itself to pieces.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
I agree, I like this one a lot. Lovely colour and all those little blue clumps of stars. Do you think they are globs?
I wonder if the LMC distorts arms of the Milky Way in a similar way?
Greg.
Hi, Greg, and many thanks. Guessing wildly about the possibility of globulars. My vague understanding is that globular clusters should be mostly Population II stars and therefore more orange coloured. There are a couple of extremely blue isolated stars at the top of the full image, far from any others. I secretly hope that they are quasars rather than just rare blue stars in the Milky Way.
I'm aware that there is a very faint bridge of gas and dust between us and the LMC. Colin has a better answer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silv
I enjoy your introductional text as much as your imaging result!
Wow, the big one looks as if it's forming a funnel due to to the secondary galaxy mass closing in on the black hole head on!
And what's the bright blue speck, double star with nebula at 12 o'clock? Does it belong to the outmost spiral arm or is it a separate object?
It seems too bright to be part of the galaxy.. as if the area was actually much closer to our viewpoint.
Hi, Annette, nice to hear from you. I'd be guessing wildly about the mechanics, but here goes. I'd reckon that the nebulosity is definitely star formation in the spiral arm, but the two bright blue stars seem implausibly too bright to be part of the galaxy. The way to tell would be to do spectroscopy and compare the red shift of the two blue stars with that of the rest of the galaxy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
It doesn't currently but it will in the future, the Sagitarrius Dwarf Galaxy has caused some minor disruption however. The blue clumps are bouts in intense star formation caused by the interaction between the LMC like object and the main galaxy.
Star formation gets very intense around galactic interactions.
Thanks for that, Colin. Not sure I'd want to be in a galaxy with really major star formation going on - we'd get fried.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silv
keep coming back to the image.
the outstretched arm can't be aiming outward due to the attack of the dwarf? ?
that arm-effect wouldn't be happening if you throw a stone into a sandpit, would it? the sandpit being the big galaxy, of course.
how about it's more like a sling, still pulling material from outside the galaxy into the "gravitational force field" of the big one?
maybe enhanced by the additional forces of the dwarf?
----
and from the "wall" growing upwards in the back (what I called a "funnel" before), we can calculate the direction from which the dwarf is "thrown into the sandpit". so cool. thanks for sharing!
Glad we've captured your imagination, Annette. Wish I could give any sort of an answer. Sob. But it's fun to speculate.
Best,
Mike (and Trish, who is sitting beside me, processing garden photos of butcher birds just now).
The image withstood the most astonishing amount of decon and sharpening without going too silly. We suspect without proof that bright targets and very long integration permit more deconvolution than a quick holiday snap.
Overall a super image of a galaxy that has never really made me excited...until now 
..lovely vibrant colour and one can really sense the turmoil going on in the scene. So many interesting features, great stuff guys...I am getting used to worms....I won't even notice them soon 
Sob. But it's fun to speculate.
