Hubble image archive

Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (Webb and Hubble Image)

Caption The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, c...

Date
Oct 31, 2024
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-2024-136-01j9rrg5672mp4bprfg31arsv6
By

Caption

The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, cataloged as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right.

Both have increased star formation rates. Combined, they are estimated to form the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun annually. Our Milky Way galaxy forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year.

Both galaxies have hosted seven known supernovae, each of which may have cleared space in their arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, and allowed new many stars to form. (Find these areas by looking for the bluest regions).

Examine the galaxies’ radically white appearance in mid-infrared light, and compare the Hubble and Webb images side by side.

Image Details

About The Object
Object NameIC 2163 and NGC 2207
Object DescriptionSpiral Galaxies
R.A. Position06:16:24.9
Dec. Position-21:22:26
ConstellationCanis Major
Distance114 million light-years
DimensionsThe image is 4.8 arcminutes across (about 160,000 light-years).
About The Data
Data DescriptionThis image was created with Hubble data from proposal: (D. Elmegreen) and Webb data from proposal (M. Garcia Marin). Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
InstrumentHubble: WFPC2; Webb: MIRI
Exposure DatesHubble: May 25, 1996; November 11, 1998; Webb: January 26, February 2, 2024
FiltersHubble: F439W, F555W, F814W; Webb: F770W, F1130W, F1500W
About The Image
Color InfoThese images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes using Hubble's WFPC2 and Webb's MIRI instruments. Several filters were used to sample wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F439W Green: F555W Red: F814W, Orange: F770W + F1130W + F1500W
About The Image
Compass and Scale ImageAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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Source

Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.

View on NASA.gov

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