Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SPACE SCOPES
Hubble views a bizarre cosmic quartet
by Staff Writers
Paris (ESA) Jun 22, 2015


This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows four of the seven members of galaxy group HCG 16. This quartet is composed of (from left to right) NGC 839, NGC 838, NGC 835, and NGC 833 - four of the seven galaxies that make up the entire group. They shine brightly with their glowing golden centers and wispy tails of gas, set against a background dotted with much more distant galaxies. Image courtesy NASA, ESA, ESO Acknowledgement: Jane Charlton (Pennsylvania State University, USA. For a larger version of this image please go here.

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a gathering of four cosmic companions. This quartet forms part of a group of galaxies known as the Hickson Compact Group 16, or HCG 16 - a galaxy group bursting with dramatic star formation, tidal tails, galactic mergers and black holes.

This quartet is composed of (from left to right) NGC 839, NGC 838, NGC 835, and NGC 833 - four of the seven galaxies that make up the entire group. They shine brightly with their glowing golden centres and wispy tails of gas, set against a background dotted with much more distant galaxies.

Compact groups represent some of the densest concentrations of galaxies known in the Universe, making them perfect laboratories for studying weird and wonderful phenomena. Hickson Compact Groups in particular, as classified by astronomer Paul Hickson in the 1980s, are surprisingly numerous, and are thought to contain an unusually high number of galaxies with strange properties and behaviours.

HCG 16 is certainly no exception. The galaxies within it are bursting with dramatic knots of star formation and intensely bright central regions. Within this single group, astronomers have found two LINERs, one Seyfert 2 galaxy and three starburst galaxies.

These three types of galaxy are all quite different, and can each help us to explore something different about the cosmos. Starbursts are dynamic galaxies that produce new stars at much greater rates than their peers.

LINERs (Low-Ionisation Nuclear Emission-line Regions) contain heated gas at their cores, which spew out radiation. In this image NGC 839 is a LINER-type and luminous infrared galaxy and its companion NGC 838 is a LINER-type galaxy with lots of starburst activity and no central black hole.

The remaining galaxies, NGC 835 and NGC 833, are both Seyfert 2 galaxies which have incredibly luminous cores when observed at other wavelengths than in the visible light, and are home to active supermassive black holes.

The X-ray emission emanating from the black hole within NGC 833 (far right) is so high that it suggests the galaxy has been stripped of gas and dust by past interactions with other galaxies.

It is not alone in having a violent history - the morphology of NGC 839 (far left) is likely due to a galactic merger in the recent past, and long tails of glowing gas can be seen stretching away from the galaxies on the right of the image.

This new image uses observations from Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, combined with data from the ESO Multi-Mode Instrument installed on the European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope in Chile. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestants Jean-Christophe Lambry and Marc Canale.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Hubble at ESA
Space Telescope News and Technology at Skynightly.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




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





SPACE SCOPES
Hubble observes one-of-a-kind star nicknamed 'Nasty'
Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 25, 2015
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered surprising new clues about a hefty, rapidly aging star whose behavior has never been seen before in our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, the star is so weird that astronomers have nicknamed it "Nasty 1," a play on its catalog name of NaSt1. The star may represent a brief transitory stage in the evolution of extremely massive stars. F ... read more


SPACE SCOPES
Moon engulfed in permanent, lopsided dust cloud

Crashing comets may explain mysterious lunar swirls

Google Lunar X-Prize meets Yoda

China, Russia plan joint landing on the Moon

SPACE SCOPES
Scientists find methane in Mars meteorites

NASA Signs Agreements to Advance Agency's Journey to Mars

New study favors cold, icy early Mars

Scientists find methane in Mars meteorites

SPACE SCOPES
Robotic Tunneler May Explore Icy Moons

How to sail through space on sunbeams - solar satellite leads the way

XCOR Selects Matrix Composites to Develop Lynx Chines

Spacecraft glitch shifts orbiting ISS: Russia

SPACE SCOPES
Electric thruster propels China's interstellar ambitions

China Plans First Ever Landing On The Lunar Far Side

China ranked 4th among world space powers

3D printer making Chinese space suit parts

SPACE SCOPES
Curtiss-Wright Awarded Contract By The European Space Agency

Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome Receives First Telemetry From ISS

Russian, US Scientists to Cooperate in Space Exploration Despite Sanctions

'Hard landing' as three astronauts return to Earth from ISS

SPACE SCOPES
Garvey Spacecraft selects Pacific Spaceport Complex

Sentinel-2A satellite ready for Launch from Kourou

Arianespace restructure signals major changes in company governance

NASA issues RFP for New Class of Launch Services

SPACE SCOPES
The mass of the Mars-sized exoplanet, Kepler-138b

Astronomers create array of Earth-like planet models

Helium-Shrouded Planets May Be Common in Our Galaxy

Hubble detects stratosphere-like layer around exoplanet

SPACE SCOPES
Oculus out to let people touch virtual worlds

Framework materials yield to pressure

Buckle up for fast ionic conduction

Students Hope 3D-Printed Rocket Engine Will Break Records




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights 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 Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.