The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this incredible image of NGC 1222, a large lenticular galaxy with a starburst nucleus.
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the lenticular galaxy NGC 1222. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.
NGC 1222 is located approximately 109 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus.
This galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Édouard Jean-Marie Stephan on December 5, 1883.
Also known as LEDA 11774 and Mrk 603, NGC 1222 is an unusual example of a type of galaxy known as a lenticular galaxy.
Typically, this kind of galaxy would present a rather smooth appearance on the sky and would consist mostly of old, reddish stars. A bit dull, perhaps. But NGC 1222 is certainly not a typical member of its class — and it’s anything but dull.
NGC 1222 contains three compact regions, each of which appears to be the central nucleus of a galaxy.
Astronomers think that the galaxy is in the process of swallowing up two dwarf galaxies that strayed too close to it.
NGC 1222 is also a starburst galaxy, one with a high rate of star formation. It is likely that the encounter was the trigger for the starburst, bringing in fresh supplies of gas.
Although its peculiarities were first seen in photographic images, these were not able to reveal the level of fine detail that can be recovered by Hubble.
The new image allows us to see an astonishing amount of structure in this galaxy, emphasizing its colorful history.
Against the smooth background of old stars that was the original lenticular galaxy, we can clearly see dark filaments of dust and bright filaments of gas, both associated with the powerful star formation process.
This image of NGC 1222 is a composite of separate exposures acquired by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
Two filters (the blue filter F475W and the near-infrared filter F814W) were used to sample various wavelengths.
The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
