NGC 1300
Encyclopedia
NGC 1300 is a barred spiral galaxy
about 61 million
light-year
s away in the constellation
Eridanus
. The galaxy is about 110,000 light-years across; just slightly larger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way
. It may be part of the Eridanus Cluster
. It was discovered by John Frederick William Herschel in 1835.
during September 2004. It is a composite using four filters: Blue (with a center wavelength of 435 nm), Visual (555 nm), Infrared (814 nm) and Hydrogen-alpha (658 nm).
The image's resolution, a myriad of fine details, some of which have never before been seen, is seen throughout the galaxy's arms, disk
, bulge
, and nucleus. Blue and red supergiant stars, star cluster
s, and star-forming regions are well resolved across the spiral arms, and dust lanes trace out fine structures in the disk and bar. Numerous more distant galaxies are visible in the background, and are seen even through the densest regions of NGC 1300.
In the core of the larger spiral structure of NGC 1300, the nucleus shows its own extraordinary and distinct "grand-design" spiral structure that is about 3,300 light-years long. Only galaxies with large-scale bars appear to have these grand-design inner disks — a spiral within a spiral. Models suggest that the gas in a bar can be funneled inwards, and then spiral into the center through the grand-design disk, where it can potentially fuel a central black hole
. NGC 1300 is not known to have an active nucleus, however, indicating either that there is no black hole, or that it is not accreting matter.
Barred spiral galaxy
A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in approximately two-thirds of all spiral galaxies...
about 61 million
1 E23 m
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 100 Zm .Distances shorter than 100 Zm* 140 Zm — 15 million light years — Distance to Centaurus A galaxy...
light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s away in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
Eridanus
Eridanus (constellation)
Eridanus is a constellation. It is represented as a river; its name is the Ancient Greek name for the Po River. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is the sixth largest of the modern...
. The galaxy is about 110,000 light-years across; just slightly larger than our own galaxy, the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
. It may be part of the Eridanus Cluster
Eridanus Cluster
The center of the Eridanus Cluster is roughly 85 million light years from Earth, and contains about 73 main galaxies. It is located in the constellation Eridanus near the Fornax cluster, and is sometimes called the "Fornax II cluster."-Table of galaxies:...
. It was discovered by John Frederick William Herschel in 1835.
Image
The image on the right was taken with Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
during September 2004. It is a composite using four filters: Blue (with a center wavelength of 435 nm), Visual (555 nm), Infrared (814 nm) and Hydrogen-alpha (658 nm).
The image's resolution, a myriad of fine details, some of which have never before been seen, is seen throughout the galaxy's arms, disk
Disc (galaxy)
A disc is a component of disc galaxies, such as spiral galaxies, or lenticular galaxies.The galactic disc is the plane in which the spirals, bars and discs of disc galaxies exist. Galaxy discs tend to have more gas and dust, and younger stars than galactic bulges, or galactic haloes.The galactic...
, bulge
Bulge (astronomy)
In astronomy, a bulge is a tightly packed group of stars within a larger formation. The term almost exclusively refers to the central group of stars found in most spiral galaxies...
, and nucleus. Blue and red supergiant stars, star cluster
Star cluster
Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain less than...
s, and star-forming regions are well resolved across the spiral arms, and dust lanes trace out fine structures in the disk and bar. Numerous more distant galaxies are visible in the background, and are seen even through the densest regions of NGC 1300.
In the core of the larger spiral structure of NGC 1300, the nucleus shows its own extraordinary and distinct "grand-design" spiral structure that is about 3,300 light-years long. Only galaxies with large-scale bars appear to have these grand-design inner disks — a spiral within a spiral. Models suggest that the gas in a bar can be funneled inwards, and then spiral into the center through the grand-design disk, where it can potentially fuel a central black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
. NGC 1300 is not known to have an active nucleus, however, indicating either that there is no black hole, or that it is not accreting matter.