Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Reticulum (Ret)  ·  Contains:  NGC 1313
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NGC 1313 – Unlucky Number; Unlucky Galaxy, Alex Woronow
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NGC 1313 – Unlucky Number; Unlucky Galaxy

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 1313 – Unlucky Number; Unlucky Galaxy, Alex Woronow
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 1313 – Unlucky Number; Unlucky Galaxy

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NGC 1313 – Unlucky Number; Unlucky Galaxy

Insight Observatory data: Quasar 12.5” f/9, SBIG STL11000 (ATEO-3), DeepSkyChile

B: 11 x 600

G: 11 x 600

R: 11 x 600

L: 43 x 600

Total exposure: 13 hrs; Image Width 32’

Alex Woronow (2021) PixInsight, Topaz, ACDSee, SWT

A hint of spiral arms at the end of a bar, so it must be a spiral galaxy. But it appears to have an off-center rotational axis and extra distorted arms toward the bottom of the image. An abundance of star-burst activity combined with its disrupted profile suggests a significant gravitational interaction in the “recent” past, or maybe it merged with another galaxy, as no galaxy lies very near to it at present. However, the presence of numerous “supper shells” in the galaxy (Ryder, et al. 1995) suggest that the distortions in this galaxy may have resulted from violent star-formation within the galaxy itself.

Other unusual features, perhaps caused by the merging of two galaxies. Firstly, most of the stir-birth seems to be taking place in the bar—not the usual situation. Secondly, it has two ultra-luminous X-ray sources, thought to be a pair of black holes, each a few hundred solar masses. Astronomers speculate they formed from a pair of massive binary stars, but the mechanism for this evades explanation.

NGC 1313 lies 4.6 Mpc from us. It appears to have an extended halo (reddish-brown) extending toward the left and right in this image. Less intense “clouds” farther out from the galaxy may be in the foreground.

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NGC 1313 – Unlucky Number; Unlucky Galaxy, Alex Woronow