A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site.
This is a unique view of the disk galaxy NGC 5866 tilted nearly edge-on to our line-of-sight. Hubble's sharp vision reveals a crisp dust lane dividing the galaxy into two halves. The image highlights the galaxy's structure: a subtle, reddish bulge surrounding a bright nucleus, a blue disk of stars running parallel to the dust lane, and a transparent outer halo. NGC 5866 is a disk galaxy of type "S0" (pronounced s-zero). Viewed face on, it would look like a smooth, flat disk with little spiral structure. It remains in the spiral category because of the flatness of the main disk of stars as opposed to the more spherically rotund (or ellipsoidal) class of galaxies called "ellipticals." Such S0 galaxies, with disks like spirals and large bulges like ellipticals, are called 'lenticular' galaxies. NGC 5866 lies in the Northern constellation Draco, at a distance of 44 million light-years. It has a diameter of roughly 60,000 light-years only two-thirds the diameter of the Milky Way, although its mass is similar to our galaxy. This Hubble image of NGC 5866 is a combination of blue, green and red observations taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in February 2006.
General_Information
What is Hubble Heritage?
A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site.
This is a unique view of the disk galaxy NGC 5866 tilted nearly edge-on to our line-of-sight. Hubble's sharp vision reveals a crisp dust lane dividing the galaxy into two halves. The image highlights the galaxy's structure: a subtle, reddish bulge surrounding a bright nucleus, a blue disk of stars running parallel to the dust lane, and a transparent outer halo. NGC 5866 is a disk galaxy of type "S0" (pronounced s-zero). Viewed face on, it would look like a smooth, flat disk with little spiral structure. It remains in the spiral category because of the flatness of the main disk of stars as opposed to the more spherically rotund (or ellipsoidal) class of galaxies called "ellipticals." Such S0 galaxies, with disks like spirals and large bulges like ellipticals, are called 'lenticular' galaxies. NGC 5866 lies in the Northern constellation Draco, at a distance of 44 million light-years. It has a diameter of roughly 60,000 light-years only two-thirds the diameter of the Milky Way, although its mass is similar to our galaxy. This Hubble image of NGC 5866 is a combination of blue, green and red observations taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in February 2006.
*Acknowledgment:* W. Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa)
Acknowledgement
*Acknowledgment:* W. Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa)
Acknowledgement
Fast Facts:
Technical facts about this news release:
About the Object Object Name: NGC 5866 Object Description: Lenticular Galaxy Position (J2000): R.A. 15h 06m 29s.48 Dec. 55° 45' 47".2 Constellation: Draco Distance: 44 million light-years (13.5 Megaparsecs) Dimensions: This image is roughly 2.7 arcminutes (34,000 light-years or 10,000 parsecs) wide. The galaxy has a diameter of roughly 60,000 light- years (18,400 parsecs). About the Data Data Description: This image was created from HST data from proposals 10705 K. Noll, H. Bond, C. Christian, L. Frattare, F. Hamilton, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, W. Januszewski, and T. Royle (Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA). Instrument: ACS/WFC Exposure Date(s): February 11, 2006 Exposure Time: 2.5 hours Filters: F435W("B"), F555W("V"), F625W("R") About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Release Date: June 8, 2006 Color:
This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are:
F625W ("R") red F555W ("V") green F435W ("B") blue
About the Object Object Name: NGC 5866 Object Description: Lenticular Galaxy Position (J2000): R.A. 15h 06m 29s.48 Dec. 55° 45' 47".2 Constellation: Draco Distance: 44 million light-years (13.5 Megaparsecs) Dimensions: This image is roughly 2.7 arcminutes (34,000 light-years or 10,000 parsecs) wide. The galaxy has a diameter of roughly 60,000 light- years (18,400 parsecs). About the Data Data Description: This image was created from HST data from proposals 10705 K. Noll, H. Bond, C. Christian, L. Frattare, F. Hamilton, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, W. Januszewski, and T. Royle (Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA). Instrument: ACS/WFC Exposure Date(s): February 11, 2006 Exposure Time: 2.5 hours Filters: F435W("B"), F555W("V"), F625W("R") About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Release Date: June 8, 2006 Color:
This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using several different filters. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are:
F625W ("R") red F555W ("V") green F435W ("B") blue
NGC 5866 is an edge-on galaxy that is tilted to our line-of-sight. It is classified as an S0 lenticular, due to its flat stellar disk and large ellipsoidal bulge. NGC 5866 lies in the Northern constellation Draco, at a distance of 44 million light-years (13.5 Megaparsecs). It has a diameter of roughly 60,000 light-years (18,400 parsecs). This Hubble image of NGC 5866 is a combination of blue, green and red observations taken with the Hubble Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys in November 2005.
note
*Description*:
NGC 5866 is an edge-on galaxy that is tilted to our line-of-sight. It is classified as an S0 lenticular, due to its flat stellar disk and large ellipsoidal bulge. NGC 5866 lies in the Northern constellation Draco, at a distance of 44 million light-years (13.5 Megaparsecs). It has a diameter of roughly 60,000 light-years (18,400 parsecs). This Hubble image of NGC 5866 is a combination of blue, green and red observations taken with the Hubble Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys in November 2005.
