
The central parts of the starburst galaxy NGC 1313. The very active state of this galaxy is evident from the image, showing many star formation regions. A great number of supershell nebulae, that is, cocoons of gas inflated and etched by successive bursts of star formation, are visible. The green nebulosities are regions emitting in the ionised oxygen lines and may harbour clusters with very hot stars. This colour-composite is based on images obtained with the FORS1 instrument on one of the 8.2-m Unit Telescope of ESO's Very Large Telescope, located at Cerro Paranal. The data were obtained in the night of 16 December 2003, through different broad- (R, B, and z) and narrow-band filters (H-alpha, OI, and OIII).
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NASA ID
astronomers-identify-a-new-mid-size-black-hole_21034848884_o
Date Created
November 23, 2006
Center
GSFC
Media Type
image
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Medium
960px