192: The Wrong Galaxy
Explanation:
Centered
above is distant galaxy 0313-192,
some one billion light-years away.
Radio emission from the galaxy has been mapped by the National
Radio Astronomy Observatory's
Very
Large Array and
is shown in red, composited with a visible light image from
the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Dust lanes and other features
in the Hubble image as well as
infrared
Gemini telescope data
demonstrate clearly that 0313-192 is a spiral galaxy
seen edge-on.
(Note the unrelated spiral galaxy
seen face-on
above and to the right.)
For years,
double cosmic clouds
of radio emission such as those
flanking this spiral galaxy's core have been
studied and cataloged.
But, at least until now, such
radio
sources were only known to arise
from the cores of giant elliptical galaxies or in
violent merging galaxy systems, making 0313-192 the wrong kind
of galaxy
to be found in this scenario.
Astronomers are
searching for clues to why this spiral galaxy,
potentially similar to our own Milky Way, shows such powerful
activity.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
