{"id":13994,"date":"2017-03-01T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T11:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13994"},"modified":"2017-02-27T12:55:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T17:55:35","slug":"eso-very-large-telescope-gets-a-sharper-view-of-an-edge-on-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13994","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Very Large Telescope gets a sharper view of an edge on galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The latest report from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">ESO<\/a>\u00a0(European Southern Observatory):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/eso1707\/?lang\" target=\"_blank\">A Galaxy on the Edge<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This colourful stripe of stars, gas, and dust is actually a spiral galaxy named NGC 1055. Captured here by ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), this big galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way. NGC 1055 appears to lack the whirling arms characteristic of a spiral, as it is seen edge-on. However, it displays odd twists in its structure that were probably caused by an interaction with a large neighbouring galaxy.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_13996\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13996\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707a1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"13996\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=13996\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707a1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"700,683\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;ESO&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This colourful image from ESO\\u2019s Very Large Telescope shows NGC 1055 in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). \\u00a0This large galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way. NGC 1055 appears to lack the whirling arms characteristic of a spiral, as it is seen edge-on. However, it displays odd twists in its structure that were probably caused by an interaction with a large neighbouring galaxy.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1488369600&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The edge-on galaxy NGC 1055&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"The edge-on galaxy NGC 1055\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;This colourful image from ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope shows NGC 1055 in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). \u00a0This large galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way. NGC 1055 appears to lack the whirling arms characteristic of a spiral, as it is seen edge-on. However, it displays odd twists in its structure that were probably caused by an interaction with a large neighbouring galaxy.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707a1.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-13996\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707a1.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707a1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707a1-300x293.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13996\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>This colourful image from ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope shows NGC 1055 in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). \u00a0This large galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way. NGC 1055 appears to lack the whirling arms characteristic of a spiral, as it is seen edge-on. However, it displays odd twists in its structure that were probably caused by an interaction with a large neighbouring galaxy. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/eso1707a\/\" target=\"_blank\">Larger image<\/a>.]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>Spiral galaxies throughout the Universe take on all manner of orientations with respect to Earth. We see some from above (as it were) or \u201cface-on\u201d \u2014 a good example of this being the whirlpool-shaped galaxy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/eso9845d\/\" target=\"_blank\">NGC 1232<\/a>. Such orientations reveal a galaxy\u2019s flowing arms and bright core in beautiful detail, but make it difficult to get any sense of a three-dimensional shape.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_73gUDWRMTk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>A new image from ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope gives a very detailed view of the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055. This ESOcast Light takes a quick look at this image and explains what it shows.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We see other galaxies, such as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/eso1129a\/\" target=\"_blank\"> NGC 3521<\/a>, at angles. While these tilted objects begin to reveal the three-dimensional structure within their spiral arms, fully understanding the overall shape of a spiral galaxy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfa.harvard.edu\/oir\/eg\/edge.html\" target=\"_blank\">requires an edge-on view<\/a> \u2014 such as this one of NGC 1055.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_13997\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13997\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/eso1707b\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"13997\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=13997\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707b1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"700,656\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;ESO\/Digitized Sky Survey 2 Ackno&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This rich wide-field view captures not only the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055 at the centre but also the bright galaxy NGC 1068 (also known as Messier 77, it is an active galaxy with a huge black hole at its centre) to its lower-left, the fainter galaxy NGC 1032 to the upper right and the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073 to the upper left. In addition, much closer to home, the bright naked-eye blue star Delta Ceti appears at the right of centre. This picture was created from images in the Digitized Sky Survey 2.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1488369600&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The surroundings of the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"The surroundings of the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;This rich wide-field view captures not only the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055 at the centre but also the bright galaxy NGC 1068 (also known as Messier 77, it is an active galaxy with a huge black hole at its centre) to its lower-left, the fainter galaxy NGC 1032 to the upper right and the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073 to the upper left. In addition, much closer to home, the bright naked-eye blue star Delta Ceti appears at the right of centre. This picture was created from images in the Digitized Sky Survey 2.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707b1.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-13997\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707b1.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707b1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/eso1707b1-300x281.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13997\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>This rich wide-field view captures not only the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055 at the centre but also the bright galaxy NGC 1068 (also known as Messier 77, it is an active galaxy with a huge black hole at its centre) to its lower-left, the fainter galaxy NGC 1032 to the upper right and the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073 to the upper left. In addition, much closer to home, the bright naked-eye blue star Delta Ceti appears at the right of centre. This picture was created from images in the Digitized Sky Survey 2. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/images\/eso1707b\/\" target=\"_blank\">Larger images<\/a>.]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>When seen edge-on, it is possible to get an overall view of how stars \u2014 both new patches of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Star_formation\" target=\"_blank\">starbirth<\/a> and older populations \u2014 are distributed throughout a galaxy, and the \u201cheights\u201d of the relatively flat disc and the star-loaded core become easier to measure. Material stretches away from the blinding brightness of the galactic plane itself, becoming more clearly observable against the darker background of the cosmos.<\/p>\n<p>Such a perspective also allows astronomers to study the overall shape of a galaxy\u2019s extended disc, and to study its properties. One example of this is warping, which is something we see in NGC 1055. The galaxy has regions of peculiar twisting and disarray in its disc, likely caused by interactions with the nearby galaxy Messier 77 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/eso0319\/\" target=\"_blank\">eso0319<\/a>) <a href=\"#1\">[1]<\/a>. This warping is visible here; NGC 1055\u2019s disc is slightly bent and appears to wave across the core.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6xuKmfDwWkc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>This video sequence takes the viewer deep into the faint constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster) and finishes on a new and very detailed view of the edge-on galaxy NGC 1055 from ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope in northern Chile.\u00a0Credit:\u00a0ESO\/Digitized Sky Survey 2\/A. Fujii. Music: Astral Electronic<\/em><\/p>\n<p>NGC 1055 is located approximately 55 million light-years away in the constellation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cetus\" target=\"_blank\">Cetus (The Sea Monster)<\/a>. This image was obtained using the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/vlt\/vlt-instr\/fors\/\" target=\"_blank\">FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2<\/a> (FORS2) instrument mounted on Unit Telescope 1 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/vlt\/vlt-names\/\" target=\"_blank\">Antu<\/a>) of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eso.org\/paranal\/\" target=\"_blank\">VLT<\/a>, located at ESO\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/teles-instr\/paranal\/\" target=\"_blank\">Paranal Observatory<\/a> in Chile. It hails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/outreach\/gems\/\" target=\"_blank\">ESO\u2019s Cosmic Gems programme<\/a>, an outreach initiative that produces images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes for the purposes of education and outreach.<\/p>\n<p><b>Notes<\/b><br \/>\n<a name=\"1\"><\/a>[1] Messier 77, also known as NGC 1068, has a very brilliant central region powered by a supermassive black hole. It is one of the nearest examples of what astronomers call active galaxies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): A Galaxy on the Edge This colourful stripe of stars, gas, and dust is actually a spiral galaxy named NGC 1055. Captured here by ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), this big galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way. NGC 1055 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13994\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">ESO: Very Large Telescope gets a sharper view of an edge on galaxy<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-3DI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14575,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14575","url_meta":{"origin":13994,"position":0},"title":"ESO&#8217;s Very Large Telescope captures a &#8220;Dazzling Spiral with an Active Heart&#8221;","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): Dazzling Spiral with an Active Heart ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured a magnificent face-on view of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 77. 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