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> Spiral galaxy NGC 1232 in Eridanus
Spiral galaxy NGC 1232 in Eridanus
author: ESO/Novapix
reference: a-gax12-32001
Image Size 300 DPI: 42 * 42 cm
NGC 1232 is located 20 degrees south of the celestial equator, in the constellation Eridanus (The River). The distance is about 100 million light-years. The edge of the field shown here corresponds to about 200,000 lightyears, or about twice the size of the Milky Way galaxy. This image of the large spiral galaxy NGC 1232 was obtained on September 21, 1998, by the FORS instrument at VLT. The colours of the different regions are well visible: the central areas contain older stars of reddish colour, while the spiral arms are populated by young, blue stars and many star-forming regions. Note the distorted companion galaxy on the left side of the image, shaped like the greek letter "theta".
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