HST Planetary Camera Images of Core of Peculiar Galaxy Arp 220
An image of the central part of the ultra-luminuous infrared galaxy Arp 220 taken with the WFPC on the Hubble Space Telescope. HST reveals a new complex structure within one arc second of the nucleus. While part of the this structure was seen in radio interfero-metric maps, most of the structure is new.
HST reveals a new class of object at the core: gigantic young star clusters which are ten times larger than any clusters observed previously. They were probably produces by the collision of two spiral galaxies. Stars are produced at a furious rate from the dust and gas supplied by the collision.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA press release
NASA caption
NASA caption
| Id: | opo9216b |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 2 June 1992, 06:00 |
| Size: | 2863 x 2408 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Arp 220 |
| Type: | • Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Irregular • Local Universe : Galaxy : Component : Center/Core • Galaxies Images/Videos |
| Distance: | 250 million light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical V |
555 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC1 |
| Optical R |
702 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC1 |
| Infrared I |
785 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC1 |
