APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun May 08, 2022 4:05 am

Image Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings

Explanation: Most galaxies don't have any rings -- why does this galaxy have two? To begin, the bright band near NGC 1512's center is a nuclear ring, a ring that surrounds the galaxy center and glows brightly with recently formed stars. Most stars and accompanying gas and dust, however, orbit the galactic center in a ring much further out -- here seen near the image edge. This ring is called, counter-intuitively, the inner ring. If you look closely, you will see this the inner ring connects ends of a diffuse central bar that runs horizontally across the galaxy. These ring structures are thought to be caused by NGC 1512's own asymmetries in a drawn-out process called secular evolution. The gravity of these galaxy asymmetries, including the bar of stars, cause gas and dust to fall from the inner ring to the nuclear ring, enhancing this ring's rate of star formation. Some spiral galaxies also have a third ring -- an outer ring that circles the galaxy even further out.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21571
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by bystander » Sun May 08, 2022 4:16 am

Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

MoonRockMan
Ensign
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2022 5:39 pm

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by MoonRockMan » Sun May 08, 2022 5:35 am

I'm wondering if there are any phenomena on Earth that generate spiral objects with bars.

heehaw

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by heehaw » Sun May 08, 2022 9:11 am

That IS a beauty! Fantastic!

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1578
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by JohnD » Sun May 08, 2022 9:59 am

A very similar galaxy, "Hoag's Object" has featured many times on APoD, most recently https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191127.html

I've never seen a picture of Hoag with as much resolution as this one. Has Hubble ever imaged Hoag? The structures seen within NGC1512 and the blurb (which I have yet to follow up) has links that indicate how it has formed. So applicable to Hoag?

John

User avatar
Ann
4725 Å
Posts: 13372
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by Ann » Sun May 08, 2022 10:02 am

MoonRockMan wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 5:35 am I'm wondering if there are any phenomena on Earth that generate spiral objects with bars.
Not to my knowledge, and I don't think it is possible. After all, a spiral galaxy with a bar and a ring is a tremendously huge and dynamical system, whereas the Earth is a (comparatively) tiny ball of rock, with a thin, thin layer of gas and liquid on its surface. I don't think that conditions on the Earth allows small spiral systems with bars and rings to arise spontaneously.

Ann
Color Commentator

User avatar
Ann
4725 Å
Posts: 13372
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by Ann » Sun May 08, 2022 10:06 am

JohnD wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 9:59 am A very similar galaxy, "Hoag's Object" has featured many times on APoD, most recently https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191127.html

I've never seen a picture of Hoag with as much resolution as this one. Has Hubble ever imaged Hoag? The structures seen within NGC1512 and the blurb (which I have yet to follow up) has links that indicate how it has formed. So applicable to Hoag?

John
In my opinion, Hoag's Object is not similar to NGC 1512. The main difference is that the ring in Hoag's Object appears to be completely detached from the yellow center of that object, as if the blue ring and the yellow elliptical component were completely separate from one another. That is certainly not the case with NGC 1512.

I'd say it is Hoag's Object that is the "odd man out" here, not NGC 1512.

Ann
Color Commentator

User avatar
AVAO
Commander
Posts: 507
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 12:24 pm
AKA: multiwavelength traveller
Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by AVAO » Sun May 08, 2022 10:46 am

Ann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:06 am
JohnD wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 9:59 am A very similar galaxy, "Hoag's Object" has featured many times on APoD, most recently https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191127.html

I've never seen a picture of Hoag with as much resolution as this one. Has Hubble ever imaged Hoag? The structures seen within NGC1512 and the blurb (which I have yet to follow up) has links that indicate how it has formed. So applicable to Hoag?

John
In my opinion, Hoag's Object is not similar to NGC 1512. The main difference is that the ring in Hoag's Object appears to be completely detached from the yellow center of that object, as if the blue ring and the yellow elliptical component were completely separate from one another. That is certainly not the case with NGC 1512.

I'd say it is Hoag's Object that is the "odd man out" here, not NGC 1512.

Ann
In my opinion too. the core is very diffuse in Hoag's Object but highly structured in NGC 1512.

Image
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/520 ... cc52_h.jpg
Jac Berne (flickr)

User avatar
Ann
4725 Å
Posts: 13372
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 5:33 am

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by Ann » Sun May 08, 2022 11:05 am

Nuclear rings like the one in NGC 1512 are not common, but they are certainly not unheard of, either.

But first, let me show you my favorite image of NGC 1512 and its satellite galaxy NGC 1510 - and let's not forget all the ultraviolet-glowing tendrils of NGC 1512! According to the caption, these tendrils may be the remnants of another satellite galaxy, or just the remnants of a galaxy that blundered too close to NGC 1512. Yes, maybe so, but if that is the case, then these tendrils are certainly still forming hot new stars! :D


Note the broad-looking blue outer ring of NGC 1512 in the ultraviolet GALEX image, signalling the presence of stars of spectral classes A, B and O. (I refuse to call it an inner ring.) The nuclear ring is lost in the overall glare of the central core of the galaxy.

Anyway, rings. Let's have a look at some other galactic rings (and bars)! Let's start with NGC 1097, because this galaxy is somewhat similar to NGC 1512. Like NGC 1512, it is interacting with a smaller companion galaxy, and like NGC 1512, it has a nuclear ring and and outer ring, as well as some blue outer tendrils:


This is the nuclear ring of NGC 1097. It is just so much brighter than the bar and the bulge of NGC 1097!


Got to show you two pictures of M77, one "normal" and one "enhanced". M77 is a barred spiral, but the bar is not easy to spot, and if there is a nuclear ring, it is not obvious. But I love the "enhanced" image! :D Note the outer ring, I mean, the really outer ring!

Enhanced portrait of M77 ESO Stuart Rankin.png
"Enhanced" portrait of M77. Note the outer ring. ESO/Stuart Rankin.

Let's have a look at gorgeous barred spiral NGC 1398, too:

Enhanced portrait of NGC 1398 ESO Stuart Rankin.png
Enhanced portrait of NGC 1398. Image: ESO/Stuart Rankin.

Gorgeous spiral NGC 1398 has a ring encircling its bar, and then its "first set of spiral arms" seems to form yet another ring. You've got to admit that Stuart Rankin's enhanced version of this galaxy makes it even more gorgeous, and even more full of rings, than it already is!

Ann
Color Commentator

User avatar
JohnD
Tea Time, Guv! Cheerio!
Posts: 1578
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:11 pm
Location: Lancaster, England

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by JohnD » Sun May 08, 2022 11:08 am

There IS a Hubble pic of Hoag: https://science.nasa.gov/hoags-object-n ... 76fabc8b1b

But it seems that it is 20 times further away than NGC 1512 (600 Miilion LY) so maybe even Hibble can't resolve it any better!
JOhn

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by orin stepanek » Sun May 08, 2022 11:51 am

NGC1512_Schmidt_960.jpg
Almost a perfect ring! ! wonder why some galaxies spiral out;
and some can hold there arms in? Does the gravity on some galaxies
prove stronger? Yet there is some spiraling out of arms; though quite
dark! Also some dark spirals inside the ring! :shock:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

MoonRockMan
Ensign
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2022 5:39 pm

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by MoonRockMan » Sun May 08, 2022 3:44 pm

Ann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:02 am
MoonRockMan wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 5:35 am I'm wondering if there are any phenomena on Earth that generate spiral objects with bars.
Not to my knowledge, and I don't think it is possible. After all, a spiral galaxy with a bar and a ring is a tremendously huge and dynamical system, whereas the Earth is a (comparatively) tiny ball of rock, with a thin, thin layer of gas and liquid on its surface. I don't think that conditions on the Earth allows small spiral systems with bars and rings to arise spontaneously.

Ann
Makes sense to me

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18110
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sun May 08, 2022 5:46 pm

Ann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:02 am
MoonRockMan wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 5:35 am I'm wondering if there are any phenomena on Earth that generate spiral objects with bars.
Not to my knowledge, and I don't think it is possible. After all, a spiral galaxy with a bar and a ring is a tremendously huge and dynamical system, whereas the Earth is a (comparatively) tiny ball of rock, with a thin, thin layer of gas and liquid on its surface. I don't think that conditions on the Earth allows small spiral systems with bars and rings to arise spontaneously.
Consider that a galaxy is basically a vacuum. Except in small areas where gas or dust density is high, almost all interactions are driven by gravity. The structures that we see (like arms and bars) aren't structural at all, but a consequence of gravitational resonances. No such thing exists on Earth. Whether in the air or in the water, particles interact through fluid dynamics- that is, by actual collisions.

Fluid dynamic processes easily create spirals, which we see all the time on Earth. And maybe they could come together in such a way as to create something that looked like a barred spiral galaxy. But the appearance would be purely coincidental, created by entirely different and unrelated mechanisms.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
AVAO
Commander
Posts: 507
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 12:24 pm
AKA: multiwavelength traveller
Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by AVAO » Sun May 08, 2022 7:31 pm

Ann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 11:05 am Nuclear rings like the one in NGC 1512 are not common, but they are certainly not unheard of, either.
Ann
geckzilla wrote: Sun Dec 01, 2019 2:28 am ...Galaxies wrap their arms around and form ring-like structures all the time...
Geck's idea from the legendary APOD discussion to Hoag's Object (2019 Nov 27) convinces me. I think "intertwined spiral arms" would be more correct than the model of a continuously closed ring. This applies in my opinion to outer rings as in Hoag's Object or to inner rings as in NGC 1512.

sky.esa.int/?target=60.97586381880696%20-43.348700443782334&hips=HST+WFC3&fov=0.01260347509909621&cooframe=J2000&sci=true&lang=en

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 2780
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by johnnydeep » Sun May 08, 2022 9:29 pm

Thanks for those other ring galaxy pics, Ann! They form quite a motley (and beautiful) menagerie!
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings (2022 May 08)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon May 09, 2022 12:57 am

Just wanted to add: Nice job Judith!
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

Post Reply