NGC 1530

Click on image for larger version.

Located in Camelopardis, this barred spiral galaxy is one of the largest in the northern sky and has a visible mini-spiral core, thought to be comprised of either hot red super-giants or glowing dust. The bar has driven a high fraction (approximation 25 %) of the total gas of the galaxy into the center. Two strong, curved shock fronts curl around a nuclear feature in ring or unresolved spiral arms. The narrow dust lanes along the bar are created by shocks in the interstellar gas due to the potential of the bar.

Equipment

16in RC Optical Systems telescope Operating at f/8.8
Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 220 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 30 minutes binned 2x2
 Green = 30 minutes binned 2x2
 Blue = 30 minutes binned 2x2
  • The winds exceeded 30 mph during this exposure (shaking the pier), and the seeing was poor. The extra exposure time for the luminance was an attempt to make up for these deficits.
  • The AO-7 unit was used to acquire this image.
  • Two iterations of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp were applied to the luminance image.

  • Digital Development (DDP) via Maxim/DL was also used in order to display the the very dim and very bright details of the image simultaneously.

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    Minimum credit line: Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 11/09/02