NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's unique vantage point high above the atmosphere allows astronomers to see objects over a broad range of wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared and to detect differences in the regions around newly born stars.Now, an extensive multi-wavelength study with Hubble has shown the many faces of the galaxy NGC 1512.
In this view of the center of the magnificent barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512, the Hubble telescope reveals a stunning 2,400 light-year-wide circle of infant star clusters.
Astronomers generally believe that the giant bar, which is too faint to be seen in this image, funnels the gas to the inner ring, where massive stars are formed within numerous star clusters. Located 30 million light-years away, NGC 1512 is a neighbor of our Milky Way galaxy.
Electronic images are available at these URLs:
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2001/16
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html
http://hubble.stsci.edu/go/news
http://hubble.esa.int
[Contact: Dr. Dan Maoz, Ray Villard, Lars Lindberg Christensen ]
01-Jun-2001
