A blue swirl River

Realize with the VLT (Very Large Telescope) of ESO, we see the galaxy NGC 1187. This impressive curved is about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus (The River). NGC 1187 has hosted two supernova detonations during the last thirty years, most recently in 2007

The galaxy NGC 1187 [1] is seen almost face on the new VLT image, which clearly shows the spiral structure. Can be around half dozen prominent spiral arms, each of contains large amounts of gas and dust.


Traces bluish spiral arms indicate the presence of young stars born in clouds of interstellar gas.

Looking towards the central regions, we see the protruding center glows in yellow. This part of the galaxy consists mainly of old stars, gas and dust. For NGC 1187, rather than a rounded center, there is a subtle shaped central structure bar. It is believed that this feature is barred acts as a mechanism for channeling the gas from the spiral arms towards the center, increasing star formation in this area.

On the outskirts of the galaxy, many more galaxies can be weaker and more distant. Some even shine through the disc of NGC 1187. Its predominantly reddish tones contrast with the pale blue star clusters of the nearest objects.

Galaxy NGC 1187 looks like a quiet and unchanging, but has hosted two supernova explosions since 1982. A supernova is a stellar explosion violent, resulting in the death of a massive star or a white dwarf in a binary system [2] . Supernovae are one of the most energetic phenomena in the universe, and are often so brilliant a galaxy to light up briefly before disappearing completely from view for weeks or months. During this short period of time a supernova can radiate as much energy as it is estimated that the Sun will emit over its entire life.

In October 1982, he discovered the first supernova in NGC 1187 - SN 1982R [3] . It was from La Silla, ESO observatory, and more recently, in 2007, amateur astronomer Berto Monard, located from South Africa another supernova in this galaxy - SN 2007Y. Subsequently, a team of astronomers produced a detailed study and SN 2007Y monitored for about one year using numerous telescopes [4] . This new image of NGC 1187 was created from observations obtained as part of this study and the supernova can be seen long after their peak maximum brightness near the bottom of the image.

These data were obtained using FORS1 installed at the ESO Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.

Notes

[1] This galaxy was discovered by William Herschel in 1784 from England.

[2] One type of supernova explosion occurs at the end of life of a massive star - stars with more than eight solar masses - when fuel runs its core and the star is no longer able to counteract the gravitational collapse, producing a violent explosion. Alternatively, a supernova explosion can also occur in a binary star system, in which a white dwarf (composed mainly of carbon and oxygen) draws matter from its companion star, more massive. If you transfer a sufficient amount of mass, the star begins to collapse, producing a supernova explosion.

[3] The International Astronomical Union is responsible for naming supernovae after its discovery. The name consists of the discovery of the year, followed by one or two letters. The first 26 supernovae of the year are named with capital letters from A to Z. Subsequent supernovae are designated with two letters.

[4] You can find more information about SN 2007Y in this article Stritzinger et al.

Additional information

The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the European Southern Observatory (European Southern Observatory, ESO). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organization in Europe and the most productive astronomical observatory in the world. Fifteen countries support this institution: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal, the UK, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland. ESO carries out an ambitious program focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays an important role in promoting and organizing cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique sites of world class observing in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the most advanced optical observatory in the world, and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the largest survey telescope in the world, and VST (acronym of the VLT Survey Telescope) is the largest telescope designed solely to track the sky in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in development. ESO is currently planning the European Extremely Large Telescope, E-ELT, the optical and infrared telescope close category 40 meters, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky to look."