A new image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1398 in striking detail.
This image shows spectacular ribbons of gas and dust wrapping around the pearly center of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1398. Image credit: ESO.
NGC 1398, also known as ESO 482-22, LEDA 13434 and IRAS 03367-2629, lies in the constellation Fornax, some 65 million light-years away from Earth.
The galaxy has a diameter of nearly 135,000 light-years, making it slightly larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy.
NGC 1398 was discovered on December 17, 1868, by German astronomer Friedrich Winnecke.
It is classified as a barred spiral galaxy for the bar-shaped band of stars and dust crossing its intensely glowing central region
Most spiral galaxies — around two thirds — are observed to have this feature, but it’s not yet clear whether or how these bars affect a galaxy’s behavior and development.
This new image of NGC 1398 was made from separate exposures taken in the visible region of the spectrum with the FOcal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2), an instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory, Chile.
The image was created as part of ESO’s Cosmic Gems program, an outreach initiative to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education and public outreach.
The Cosmic Gems program makes use of telescope time that cannot be used for science observations.
All data collected may also be suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers through ESO’s science archive.
