A Collection of Spirals

At the center of this image is NGC 1515, an intermediate barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Dorado Group. Large-scale observations of the Universe have found that galaxies “clump” together. These clumps are held together by a loose gravitational pull and designated a group or cluster, depending on the number of galaxies within a bounded radius. One of the characteristics of groups of galaxies is the slow speed of individual galaxies, about 150 km/s (93 mi/hr), which results in frequent interactions between members. The Dorado Group is composed of three subgroups and NGC 1515 is a member of the subgroup associated with the galaxy NGC 1566. In the background of this image are thousands of other galaxies, located even further away than NGC 1515, alongside stars located in our own Milky Way.

This image is composed of data taken with the Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, as part of the Dark Energy Survey, a project that mapped millions of galaxies. One of the most powerful digital cameras in the world, the Dark Energy Camera was designed specifically for the Dark Energy Survey and was operated by the US Department of Energy and NSF between 2013 and 2019.

A wider crop is available here. Try the zoomable version to explore the thousands of background galaxies.

Credit:

Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

About the Image

Id:iotw2152a
Type:Observation
Release date:Dec. 29, 2021, noon
Size:3564 x 1782 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 1515
Distance:55 million light years
Constellation:Dorado
Category:CTIO

Image Formats

Large JPEGLarge JPEG
2.4 MB
Screensize JPEGScreensize JPEG
187.9 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x7681024x768
294.9 KB
1280x10241280x1024
496.8 KB
1600x12001600x1200
739.5 KB
1920x12001920x1200
883.6 KB
2048x15362048x1536
4.9 MB

Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):4 4 1.59
Position (Dec):-54° 5' 57.75"
Field of view:15.61 x 7.80 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 89.5° left of vertical


Colors & filters

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
G
477 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam
Optical
R
635 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam
Optical
I
774 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam