images

NGC 1300, barred spiral galaxy in Eridanus

by

Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix

Reference

a-gax13-00002

Date

2006-09-07

Spiral galaxies appear in a variety of guises, but none are more intriguing than the barred variety. As their name suggests, these galaxies are distinguished by a bar, extending (in this case) like two more of less straight assemblies of stars either side of the bright nucleus. Caught up in the bar are two dust lanes, emerging on either side of the nuclear mass. At some distance from the nucleus, the straight, almost structureless bar and dust lanes abruptly turn at a sharp angle. It is here that the delicately curved arms of the spiral begin, and it is here that star formation is at its most concentrated. Many spirals have such bars, including the Milky Way, where it is a subtle feature, very difficult to detect. NGC 1300, in the southern constellation of Eridanus is among the finest examples. It is about 60 million light years distant and is an outlying member of a well-populated group of galaxies.