Gentle Giant Galaxy

In the constellation Sculptor lies this large extended spiral galaxy called NGC 289. Despite being around 75 million light-years away, the light of NGC 289 is stunningly captured here by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. The galaxy’s bluish arms reach through the expanse of space over 100,000 light-years, larger than the size of our own Milky Way. It’s classified as a Type II Seyfert galaxy with its ripe collections of star formation and bright core, but it’s also relatively faint. Studies have found that the galaxy contains large amounts of dark matter, which is a common feature of all galaxies with a low surface brightness. Dark matter is yet to be directly observed, which led the US Department of Energy to build the DECam in order to study the nature of dark matter. Since the conclusion of its survey, DECam has been available to other scientists for use, such as for this image of NGC 289.

Credit:

CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA
Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

About the Image

Id:iotw2332a
Type:Observation
Release date:Aug. 9, 2023, noon
Size:3000 x 3000 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 289
Distance:75 million light years
Constellation:Sculptor
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEGLarge JPEG
4.7 MB
Screensize JPEGScreensize JPEG
356.9 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x7681024x768
323.5 KB
1280x10241280x1024
545.3 KB
1600x12001600x1200
859.4 KB
1920x12001920x1200
1.1 MB
2048x15362048x1536
5.4 MB

Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):0 52 42.25
Position (Dec):-31° 12' 17.93"
Field of view:13.10 x 13.10 arcminutes
Orientation:North is -0.0° left 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
z
926 nmVíctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope
DECam