Galaxy Zoo Talk

question

  • Lt.PicklePants by Lt.PicklePants

    am i going crazy or do i see two bulges in this? any input would be great.

    Posted

  • ElisabethB by ElisabethB moderator

    Hi Lt.PicklePants and welcome to the Zoo

    Looking at the Skyserver image
    http://skyservice.pha.jhu.edu/DR9/ImgCutout/getjpeg.aspx?ra=353.9653689&dec=0.4429746&scale=0.09903175&width=512&height=512&opt=&query=

    and the DECaLS one I'd go for a very active starforming two armed spiral.

    Happy hunting ! 😄

    Posted

  • KWillett by KWillett scientist, admin, translator

    I see three bright spots within the galaxy - the main bulge at the center, and then two brighter spots opposite from each other that make a line. It might be the result of a warp in the disk - at points where you have the maximum optical depth (think the "thickest part" of the twist), you'd expect it to be a little brighter.

    The extended halo of this galaxy is interesting, though; turning down the contrast on the raw FITS images shows that the extended profile is fairly asymmetric - shaped kind of like a potato, I think. Might be evidence for a minor merger in this galaxy's history.

    FITS images

    Posted

  • Lt.PicklePants by Lt.PicklePants

    This is awesome! Thanks for the information. I can't wait to get the hang of this a little better and help more.

    Posted