NICMOS finds a golden ring at the heart of a galaxy (WFPC2 image): In this visible-light view of the galaxy NGC 4013, the star-forming ring (which is visible in a NICMOS image of the same region) cannot be seen because it is embedded in dust. The most prominent feature in this visible-light image - taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2(WFPC2) - is the thin, dark band of gas and dust, which is about 500 light-years thick. NGC 4013, which looks similar to our Milky Way Galaxy, resides in the constellation Ursa Major, 55 million light-years from Earth.

Name: IRAS 11559+4413, NGC 4013
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 60 million light years
Release date: 5 June 2002, 15:00
Credit: NASA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) and ESA

NICMOS finds a golden ring at the heart of a galaxy (NICMOS image): The revived Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble telescope has penetrated the dusty disc of the 'edge-on' galaxy NGC 4013 and looked right into the galactic core. To the surprise of astronomers, NICMOS found a brilliant band-like structure, that may be a ring of newly formed stars [yellow band in photo] seen edge-on. NICMOS enables the Hubble telescope to see near-infrared wavelengths of light, so that it can penetrate the dust that obscures the inner hub of the galaxy. The ring-like structure seen by NICMOS encircles the core and is about 720 light-years wide, which is the typical size of most star-forming rings found in disc galaxies. The human eye cannot see infrared light so colours have been assigned to correspond to near-infrared wavelengths. The blue light represents shorter near-infrared wavelengths and the red light corresponds to longer wavelengths. NGC 4013, which looks similar to our Milky Way Galaxy, resides in the constellation Ursa Major, 55 million light-years from Earth. This image, taken on 12 May 2002, is a colour composite image that was made by combining photographs taken through J-band, H-band, and Paschen-alpha filters.

Name: IRAS 11559+4413, NGC 4013
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 60 million light years
Release date: 5 June 2002, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the NICMOS Group (STScI, ESA) and the NICMOS Science Team (Univ. of Arizona)

NICMOS finds a golden ring at the heart of a galaxy (NICMOS image): The revived Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble telescope has penetrated the dusty disc of the 'edge-on' galaxy NGC 4013 and looked right into the galactic core. To the surprise of astronomers, NICMOS found a brilliant band-like structure, that may be a ring of newly formed stars seen edge-on. NICMOS enables the Hubble telescope to see near-infrared wavelengths of light, so that it can penetrate the dust that obscures the inner hub of the galaxy. The ring-like structure seen by NICMOS encircles the core and is about 720 light-years wide, which is the typical size of most star-forming rings found in disc galaxies. The human eye cannot see infrared light so colours have been assigned to correspond to near-infrared wavelengths. The blue light represents shorter near-infrared wavelengths and the red light corresponds to longer wavelengths. This picture, taken with a filter sensitive to hydrogen, shows the glow of stars and gas. Astronomers used this information to calculate the rate of star formation in the ring-like structure. NGC 4013, which looks similar to our Milky Way Galaxy, resides in the constellation Ursa Major, 55 million light-years from Earth. This image, obtained on 12 May 2002, was taken through the Paschen-alpha filter.

Name: IRAS 11559+4413, NGC 4013
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 60 million light years
Release date: 5 June 2002, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the NICMOS Group (STScI, ESA) and the NICMOS Science Team (Univ. of Arizona)

Hubble Provides 'One-Two Punch' to See Birth of Stars in Galactic Wreckage: Two powerful cameras aboard NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope teamed up to capture the final stages in the grand assembly of galaxies. The photograph, taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the revived Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), shows a tumultuous collision between four galaxies located 1 billion light-years from Earth. The galactic car wreck is creating a torrent of new stars. The tangled up galaxies, called IRAS 19297-0406, are crammed together in the center of the picture. IRAS 19297-0406 is part of a class of galaxies known as ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). ULIRGs are considered the progenitors of massive elliptical galaxies. ULIRGs glow fiercely in infrared light, appearing 100 times brighter than our Milky Way Galaxy. The large amount of dust in these galaxies produces the brilliant infrared glow. The dust is generated by a firestorm of star birth triggered by the collisions. IRAS 19297-0406 is producing about 200 new Sun-like stars every year - about 100 times more stars than our Milky Way creates. The hotbed of this star formation is the central region [the yellow objects]. This area is swamped in the dust created by the flurry of star formation. The bright blue material surrounding the central region corresponds to the ultraviolet glow of new stars. The ultraviolet light is not obscured by dust. Astronomers believe that this area is creating fewer new stars and therefore not as much dust. The colliding system [yellow and blue regions] has a diameter of about 30,000 light-years, or about half the size of the Milky Way. The tail [faint blue material at left] extends out for another 20,000 light-years. Astronomers used both cameras to witness the flocks of new stars that are forming from the galactic wreckage. NICMOS penetrated the dusty veil that masks the intense star birth in the central region. ACS captured the visible starlight of the colliding system's blue outer region. IRAS 19297-0406 may be similar to the so-called Hickson compact groups - clusters of at least four galaxies in a tight configuration that are isolated from other galaxies. The galaxies are so close together that they lose energy from the relentless pull of gravity. Eventually, they fall into each other and form one massive galaxy. This color-composite image was made by combining photographs taken in near-infrared light with NICMOS and ultraviolet and visible light with ACS. The pictures were taken with these filters: the H-band and J-band on NICMOS; the V-band on the ACS wide-field camera; and the U-band on the ACS high-resolution camera. The images were taken on May 13 and 14.

Name: IRAS 19297-0406, ULIRG
Type: Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : Ultraluminous
Category: Galaxies
Constellation: Aquila
Distance: z=0.086 (redshift)
Release date: 5 June 2002, 15:00
Credit: NASA, the NICMOS Group (STScI, ESA), and the NICMOS Science Team (University of Arizona)