This composite image was obtained in Johnson-Bessel BVR filters taken
during the first light of PFIP's Red+4 detector on the 27th of September
2013. The combined total exposure time was 40 minutes. Credits: Alex
Tudorica (AIfA and ING collaborator) and Ovidiu Vaduvescu (ING). [JPEG]
NGC 660 is a polar ring galaxy at a distance of about 43 million light years in the constellation of Pisces. Polar ring galaxies are named as such because a substantial proportion of the stellar population, gas and dust orbit the galaxy is placed in rings around the nucleus. These rings are thought to be created by interaction with a neighbouring galaxy.
The image shown above was obtained as part of the first light
tests for the new Prime Focus Imaging Platform (PFIP) wide-field camera
mounted on the William Herschel telescope. The new, large-format
single-chip detector allows a wider field of view (18 arcminutes) than
its predecessor and it provides a better response in the red wavelength
range (less fringing and higher throughput).
More information:
More information:
