AAO image reference AAT 64. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 11 arc min
Image and text © 1992-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory, photograph by David Malin.
In visible light, NGC 1313 seems dominated by scattered patches of star formation which give our picture a rather ragged appearance. The clouds of bluish stars seem to have burst into existence at random, without the normal trigger gravitational interaction or even a distinct spiral to prompt them. Star formation seems to have occurred in a series of irregular, self-sustaining bursts. However, a very deep image shows that the outer parts of galaxy are also very disturbed.
Seen with a radio telescope, the galaxy is rich in hydrogen, the raw material of stars, and the gas circulates around the centre of the galaxy in a well ordered way, apparently hardly affected by the starburst activity or other irregularities that so colour our visual impression of this unusual galaxy. NGC 1313 is at a distance of about 15 million light years, close enough for some of its brightest stars to be seen as individuals.
Entry from NGC 2000.0 (R.W. Sinnott, Ed.) © Sky Publishing Corporation, 1988:
NGC 1313 Gx 03 18.3 -66 30 s Ret8.59. p pB, L, E, vgbM, rMore data about this galaxy is accessible from the hotlinked NGC name and is reproduced
with permission from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).
Related Images
n1313_d NGC 1313, deep image
For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.