NGC 6670
NGC 6670 is a gorgeous pair of overlapping edge-on galaxies. Scientists believe that NGC 6670 has already experienced at least one close encounter and is now in the early stages of a second. The nuclei of the two galaxies are approximately 50,000 light-years apart. NGC 6670 glows in the infrared with more than a hundred billion times the luminosity of our Sun and is thought to be entering a starburst phase. The pair is located some 400 million light-years away from Earth.
This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.
Credit:NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)
About the Image
| Id: | heic0810ah |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 24 April 2008, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0810 |
| Size: | 2702 x 2702 px |
About the Object
| Name: | NGC 6670 |
| Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting |
| Distance: | 400 million light years |
| Constellation: | Draco |
| Category: | Anniversary Galaxies |
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 18 33 36.13 |
| Position (Dec): | 59° 53' 19.80" |
| Field of view: | 2.24 x 2.24 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 149.6° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical B | 435 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical Pseudogreen (B+I) |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS | |
| Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |