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
About the Image
Id: | potw2032a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 10 August 2020, 06:00 |
Size: | 3384 x 3326 px |
About the Object
Name: | NGC 1614 |
Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
Distance: | 200 million light years |
Constellation: | Eridanus |
Category: | Galaxies |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
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 Redshifted H-alpha + N II | 665 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |