. 24/7 Space News .
Hubble's View Of Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 unveils details in the galaxy's star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust. NGC 1672 is more than 60 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado. These observations of NGC 1672 were taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in August of 2005. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
by Staff Writers
Baltimore MD (SPX) Apr 04, 2007
The Hubble Space Telescope has delivered an unrivalled snapshot of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672. This remarkable image provides a high definition view of the galaxy's large bar, its fields of star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust.

NGC 1672, visible from the Southern Hemisphere, is seen almost face on and shows regions of intense star formation. The greatest concentrations of star formation are found in the so-called starburst regions near the ends of the galaxy's strong galactic bar. NGC 1672 is a prototypical barred spiral galaxy and differs from normal spiral galaxies in that the spiral arms do not twist all the way into the centre. Instead, they are attached to the two ends of a straight bar of stars enclosing the nucleus.

Astronomers believe that barred spirals have a unique mechanism that channels gas from the disk inwards towards the nucleus. This allows the bar portion of the galaxy to serve as an area of new star generation. It appears that the bars are short-lived, begging the question: will non-barred galaxies develop a bar in the future, or have they already hosted one that has disappeared?

In the new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, clusters of hot young blue stars form along the spiral arms, and ionize surrounding clouds of hydrogen gas that glow red. Delicate curtains of dust partially obscure and redden the light of the stars behind them. NGC 1672's symmetric look is emphasised by the four principal arms, edged by eye-catching dust lanes that extend out from the centre.

Galaxies lying behind NGC 1672 give the illusion they are embedded in the foreground galaxy, even though they are really much farther away. They also appear reddened as they shine through NGC 1672's dust. A few bright foreground stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy appear in the image as bright, diamond-like objects.

NGC 1672 is a member of the family of Seyfert galaxies, named after the astronomer, Carl Keenan Seyfert, who studied a family of galaxies with active nuclei extensively in the 1940s. The energy output of these nuclei can sometimes outshine their host galaxies. The active galaxy family include the exotically named quasars and blazars. Although each type has distinctive characteristics, they are thought to be all driven by the same engine - supermassive black holes - but are viewed from different angles.

The new Hubble observations, performed with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the observatory, have shed light on the process of starburst activity and on why some galaxies are ablaze with extremely active star formation.

NGC 1672 is more than 60 million light-years away in the direction of the Southern constellation of Dorado. These observations of NGC 1672 were taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in August of 2005. This composite image contains filters that isolate light from the blue, green, and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as emission from ionized hydrogen.

Email This Article

Related Links
Hubble Site
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Chandra Sheds Light On Galaxy Collision
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 02, 2007
Astronomers think that there are enormous black holes at the centers of most, if not all, galaxies. These black holes, which can be millions or even billions of times more massive than the Sun, can greatly affect the galaxy and the environments around them. One way such black holes shape their surroundings is by generating powerful jets of high-energy particles.







  • Call For Removal Of NASA Inspector General
  • HerOrbit.com Cofounders Are Headed to Space
  • NASA Medical Review Team Appointed
  • New Mexico Voters Weigh Spaceport Tax Impost

  • ESA Prepares For A Human Mission To Mars
  • Spirit Studies Rocks in Vicinity Of Home Plate
  • NAU Researchers Find Possible Caves On Mars
  • Opportunity Begins Imaging Of Cape Of Good Hope

  • Progress On The Sea Launch Investigation And Recovery
  • Two New Payloads For Ariane 5
  • Proton-M Carrier With Canadian Satellite To Be Launched April 10
  • South Korea Plans To Launch First Rocket In 2008

  • ESA Signs Arrangement With New Zealand On Tracking Station
  • DMCii To Launch New Higher-Resolution Satellite Imaging Service
  • First Greenhouse Gas Animations Produced Using Envisat SCIAMACHY Data
  • GeoEye Acquires Leading Aerial Imagery Provider From GE Oil And Gas

  • Rosetta And New Horizons Watch Jupiter In Joint Campaign
  • New Horizons Shows Off Its Color Camera In Io Image
  • Alice Views Jupiter And Io
  • A Look From LEISA

  • Hubble's View Of Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672
  • Chandra Sheds Light On Galaxy Collision
  • Meteorites Contain Solar System Clues
  • Elusive Oxygen Molecule Finally Discovered In Interstellar Space By The Odin Satellite

  • Shanghai Vies To Win Battle Of Moon Rovers
  • A Piggyback Solution For Science Versus Exploration
  • Assembling Of Moon Mission Spacecraft Begins
  • Dust-Busting Lunar Style

  • Glonass System To Be Launched By Year-End
  • Haicom Is Proudly Announce The New HI-601VT GPS GSM Real-Time Tracker
  • Comtech To Supply Movement Tracking Systems To US Army
  • Russia Allocates $380 Million For Glonass In 2007

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement