正向星系NGC 1232

正向星系NGC 1232

Facing NGC 1232
Image Credit & Copyright: Neil Corke

Explanation: From our vantage point in the Milky Way Galaxy, we see NGC 1232 face-on. Nearly 200,000 light-years across, the big, beautiful spiral galaxy is located some 47 million light-years away in the flowing southern constellation of Eridanus. This sharp, multi-color, telescopic image of NGC 1232 includes remarkable details of the distant island universe. From the core outward, the galaxy’s colors change from the yellowish light of old stars in the center to young blue star clusters and reddish star forming regions along the grand, sweeping spiral arms. NGC 1232’s apparent, small, barred-spiral companion galaxy is cataloged as NGC 1232A. Distance estimates place it much farther though, around 300 million light-years away, and unlikely to be interacting with NGC 1232. Of course, the prominent bright star with the spiky appearance is much closer than NGC 1232 and lies well within our own Milky Way.

Tomorrow’s picture: pixels in space

正向星系NGC 1232
影像提供与版权: Neil Corke

说明: 从我们在银河系的视角看出去，NGC 1232是个正向星系。这个庞大美丽、离我们约4千7百万光年远的螺旋星系，位于南天的波江座内，其跨幅将近有200,000光年。这幅由多色望远镜照片组合而成的NGC 1232清晰影像，呈现了这个遥远星系无比细致的结构。从核心往外，星系的色泽从中心年老恒星的黄光，转变为宏伟螺旋臂上的泛蓝年轻星团和泛红的恒星形成区。NGC 1232在视觉上的小棒旋伴星系，其编录号NGC 1232A。然而它的估计距离远在3亿光年之外，因此不太可能和NGC 1232有互动。除此之外，醒目的带芒亮星近在我们银河系里，远比NGC 1232要近。

明日的图片: pixels in space