Polar-Ring Lenticular Galaxy, NGC 4650A
Color photo from the VLT that shows NGC 4650A, a member of the so-called Centaurus chain of galaxies in the southern constellation of that name. NGC 4650A is a complex system that is located at a distance of about 50 Megaparsec (165 million light-years). As it is clear from this high-resolution picture, there are two main components, a lenticular-shaped galaxy (of type S0), surrounded by a knotty extended ring-like distribution of stars, dust and gas, nearly perpendicular to each other. This is a combination of three 10-min B (blue) exposures (seeing - arcsec), two 10-min V (green-yellow) exposures ( and arcsec), and one 4-min and one 10-min R (red) exposures ( and arcsec) with the VLT Test Camera. Individual frames were flat-fielded and cleaned for cosmics, combined and deconvolved with the Richardson-Lucy algorithm to produce a final FWHM = arcsec before colour combination. The field measures x arcmin. North is to the upper left; East is to the lower left. Release date June 23, 1998.
Size: 3417px × 3900px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1990s, 1998, 20th, 4650a, astronomical, astronomy, body, celestial, century, deep, galaxies, galaxy, heavenly, lenticular, ngc, object, peculiar, polar-ring, science, sky, space
