The Many Layers of NGC 1808

NGC 1808 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation Columba (the dove). This image was captured using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, in Chile. The core of NGC 1808 is thought to house a supermassive black hole, characterized by its accretion of material and higher-than-normal brightness. The smoldering center is closely surrounded by a faint blue ring populated with star clusters and supernova remnants. This region is defined by its starburst activity, producing an exceptional number of hot, bright, young stars. The abundance of rapid star formation is thought to be the result of past tidal interactions with the nearby galaxy NGC 1792. Laced throughout this middle region of NGC 1808 are dark dust lanes resulting from large outflows of hydrogen gas from the galactic nucleus. The softly glowing outer arms surrounding the galaxy are slightly warped, again pointing to tidal interactions with NGC 1792. Such an interaction could have created the asymmetrical shape of NGC 1808 and hurled gas towards the nucleus, igniting the rapid star formation in its surrounding ring.

You can find a square view of this Image of the Week here.

 

Credit:

Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image processing: R. Colombari and M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

 

About the Image

Id:iotw2320a
Type:Observation
Release date:May 17, 2023, noon
Size:4427 x 2490 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 1808
Distance:40 million light years
Constellation:Columba
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

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2.9 MB
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155.0 KB

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Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):5 7 42.98
Position (Dec):-37° 30' 24.05"
Field of view:19.38 x 10.90 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.9° right of vertical


Colors & filters

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
g
473 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam
Optical
r
642 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam
Optical
i
784 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam