by Ann » Thu Jun 07, 2018 7:42 am
The book on astronomy that has taught me the most is James D Wray's
The Color Atlas of Galaxies. The book contains 94 shiny pages of small, blurry pictures of galaxies with wonderful, "overall" UBV color information on their large-scale stellar populations. I can't tell you how much I have understood about the colors and the populations of galaxies by studying the pictures in that book!
NGC 3077 with central starburst. Photo: Hubble.
Anyway. There are a few galaxies in that book that stand out because of their colors.
Two - yes, that's all I can think of now,
two - stand out because they have mostly yellow disks and blue centers. One of them is NGC 3077. Well, NGC 3077 is the third member of the M81/M82/NGC 3077 tango for three galaxy group.
This picture from SEDS Messier Database gives you a good idea of how the three members are interacting.
NGC 3077 looks boring in most pictures, like a yellow blob. But James D Wray revealed its central blue starburst, and the Hubble telescope confirmed it.
NGC 3256. Photo: Rainer Sparenberg, Stefan Binnewies,Volker Robering
Central starburst of NGC 3256.
The picture is from this paper on the powerful
starbursts of NGC 3256 and NGC 3310.
I recommend
this page, where you can see hydrogen gas being driven out of NGC 3256 by the sheer force of the merger that this galaxy has undergone. You can actually see those two enormous jets being flung out of the galaxy in the picture by Rainer Sparenberg, Stefan Binnewies, and Volker Robering from Capella Observatory.
But to return to James D Wray's book, the blurry image of the bluish and dust-reddened center of NGC 3256 in that book looked extremely tantalizing, and I have wanted to see a good picture of it ever since. So I'm very happy about today's APOD, although I think that in some respects the Sparenberg, Binneweis and Robering portrait of this starbursting galaxy is just as good as Hubble's.
Ann
The book on astronomy that has taught me the most is James D Wray's [i][url=https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9780/5213/9780521322362.jpg]The Color Atlas of Galaxies[/url][/i]. The book contains 94 shiny pages of small, blurry pictures of galaxies with wonderful, "overall" UBV color information on their large-scale stellar populations. I can't tell you how much I have understood about the colors and the populations of galaxies by studying the pictures in that book!
[float=left][img2]http://wwwcdn.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/2015-04-28_554015e6a777b_M81Group.jpg[/img2][c][size=85][url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/online-gallery/interacting-galaxies-in-ursa-major-m81-m82-ngc-3077/]M81 (center right), M82 (center left) and NGC 3077 (bottom right).[/url]
[/size][/c][/float] [float=right][img2]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/NGC_3077_Hubble.jpg/1200px-NGC_3077_Hubble.jpg[/img2][c][size=85]NGC 3077 with central starburst. Photo: Hubble.[/size][/c][/float]
Anyway. There are a few galaxies in that book that stand out because of their colors. [b][i]Two[/i][/b] - yes, that's all I can think of now, [b][i]two[/i][/b] - stand out because they have mostly yellow disks and blue centers. One of them is NGC 3077. Well, NGC 3077 is the third member of the M81/M82/NGC 3077 tango for three galaxy group. [url=http://www.messier.seds.org/Pics/More/m81gr_poss.jpg]This picture[/url] from SEDS Messier Database gives you a good idea of how the three members are interacting.
NGC 3077 looks boring in most pictures, like a yellow blob. But James D Wray revealed its central blue starburst, and the Hubble telescope confirmed it.
[float=left][img2]http://www.capella-observatory.com/images/Galaxies/NGC3256.jpg[/img2][c][size=85]NGC 3256. Photo: Rainer Sparenberg, Stefan Binnewies,Volker Robering[/size][/c][/float] [float=right][img]https://arxiver.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/lehmeretal-1505-00789_f4.jpg?w=223&h=223&crop=1[/img][c][size=85]Central starburst of NGC 3256.
The picture is from [url=https://arxiver.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/the-0-3-30-kev-spectra-of-powerful-starburst-galaxies-nustar-and-chandra-observations-of-ngc-3256-and-ngc-3310-ga/]this paper[/url] on the powerful
starbursts of NGC 3256 and NGC 3310.[/size][/c][/float]
I recommend [url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/HI-distribution-in-the-NGC-3256-Group-of-galaxies-The-HI-distribution-shown-is-the_fig1_24164700]this page[/url], where you can see hydrogen gas being driven out of NGC 3256 by the sheer force of the merger that this galaxy has undergone. You can actually see those two enormous jets being flung out of the galaxy in the picture by Rainer Sparenberg, Stefan Binnewies, and Volker Robering from Capella Observatory.
But to return to James D Wray's book, the blurry image of the bluish and dust-reddened center of NGC 3256 in that book looked extremely tantalizing, and I have wanted to see a good picture of it ever since. So I'm very happy about today's APOD, although I think that in some respects the Sparenberg, Binneweis and Robering portrait of this starbursting galaxy is just as good as Hubble's.
Ann