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NGC 7714
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope photo of NGC 7714 presents an especially striking view of the galaxy's smoke-ring-like structure. The golden loop is made of Sun-like stars that have been pulled deep into space, far from the galaxy's center. The galaxy is located approximately 100 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Pisces.
The universe is full of such galaxies that are gravitationally stretched and pulled and otherwise distorted in gravitational tug-o'-wars with bypassing galaxies.
The companion galaxy doing the "taffy pulling" in this case, NGC 7715, lies just out of the field of view in this image. A very faint bridge of stars extends to the unseen companion. The close encounter has compressed interstellar gas to trigger bursts of star formation seen in bright blue arcs extending around NGC 7714's center.
The gravitational disruption of NGC 7714 began between 100 million and 200 million years ago, at the epoch when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
The image was taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys in October 2011.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.23h 36m 14.1s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.02° 9' 18.57"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Pisces
- DistanceDistanceThe 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.100 million light-years (30 megaparsecs)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData 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.Data of NGC 7714 were obtained from the HST proposal 12170: A. Gal-Yam and Y. Green (Weizmann Institute of Science), D. Leonard (San Diego State University), and D. Fox (Penn State University). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/WFC and HST>WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.October 16 - 24, 2011, Exposure Time: 1.1 hours
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.ACS/WFC: F606W (V) and F814W (I); WFC3/UVIS: F300X (U) and F390W (Washington C)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.NGC 7714
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Interacting Galaxy
- Release DateJanuary 29, 2015
- Science ReleaseHubble Spies a Loopy Galaxy
- CreditNASA, ESA
These images are composites of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample broad 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: Purple: F300X (U) Blue: F390W (Washington C) Green: F606W (V) Red: F814W (I)
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Details
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Avishay Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science)
