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NGC 1546 Compass Image

A compass and scale image titled NGC 1546 HST WFC3/UVIS, against the black background of space. Near top left is a color key with filters: blue (F438W), green (F555W), red (F814W). At center is a Hubble image of the nearby galaxy NGC 1546. The galaxy's orientation gives us a good view of dust lanes from slightly above and backlit by the galaxy's core. This dust absorbs light from the core, reddening it and making the dust appear rusty-brown. The core itself glows brightly in a yellowish light indicating an older population of stars. Brilliant-blue regions of active star formation sparkle through the dust. Several background galaxies also are visible, including an edge-on spiral just to the left of NGC 1546. At bottom right are white compass arrows. The arrow pointing to the 10 o'clock position is labeled E for east; the arrow pointing to the 2 o'clock position is labeled N for north. At bottom left is a scale bar labeled 9,700 light-years over 40 arc seconds.

A compass and scale image titled NGC 1546 HST WFC3/UVIS, against the black background of space. Near top left is a color key with filters: blue (F438W), green (F555W), red (F814W). At center is a Hubble image of the nearby galaxy NGC 1546. The galaxy's orientation gives us a good view of dust lanes from slightly above and backlit by the galaxy's core. This dust absorbs light from the core, reddening it and making the dust appear rusty-brown. The core itself glows brightly in a yellowish light indicating an older population of stars. Brilliant-blue regions of active star formation sparkle through the dust. Several background galaxies also are visible, including an edge-on spiral just to the left of NGC 1546. At bottom right are white compass arrows. The arrow pointing to the 10 o'clock position is labeled E for east; the arrow pointing to the 2 o'clock position is labeled N for north. At bottom left is a scale bar labeled 9,700 light-years over 40 arc seconds.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    04:14:36.54
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -56:03:38.9
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Dorado
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    50 million light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is 2.7 arcmin across (about 39,000 light-years)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The HST observations include those from program 17502 D. Thilker (JHU). Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    16 June 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F438W, F555W, F814W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    NGC 1546
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Spiral Galaxy
  • Release Date
    June 18, 2024
  • Science Release
    NASA Releases Hubble Image Taken in New Pointing Mode
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, STScI, David Thilker (JHU)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Display), 4032 × 3701
    png (29.2 MB)
  • Full Res (For Print), 4032 × 3701
    tif (37.93 MB)
  • 2000 × 1836
    jpg (1.62 MB)
A compass and scale image titled NGC 1546 HST WFC3/UVIS, against the black background of space. Near top left is a color key with filters: blue (F438W), green (F555W), red (F814W). At center is a Hubble image of the nearby galaxy NGC 1546. The galaxy's orientation gives us a good view of dust lanes from slightly above and backlit by the galaxy's core. This dust absorbs light from the core, reddening it and making the dust appear rusty-brown. The core itself glows brightly in a yellowish light indicating an older population of stars. Brilliant-blue regions of active star formation sparkle through the dust. Several background galaxies also are visible, including an edge-on spiral just to the left of NGC 1546. At bottom right are white compass arrows. The arrow pointing to the 10 o'clock position is labeled E for east; the arrow pointing to the 2 o'clock position is labeled N for north. At bottom left is a scale bar labeled 9,700 light-years over 40 arc seconds.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample various wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue= F438W, Green= F555W, Red= F814W

Related Images & Videos

At center is a new Hubble telescope image of the nearby galaxy NGC 1546. The galaxy's orientation gives us a good view of dust lanes from slightly above and backlit by the galaxy's core.

NGC 1546

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Image Processing Credit

Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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