ESO: Zooming Into Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 [720p]

A new image taken with the powerful HAWK-I camera on ESO's Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile shows the beautiful barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 in infrared light. NGC 1365 is a member of the Fornax cluster of galaxies, and lies about 60 million light-years from Earth.

NGC 1365 is one of the best known and most studied barred spiral galaxies and is sometimes nicknamed the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy because of its strikingly perfect form, with the straight bar and two very prominent outer spiral arms. Closer to the center there is also a second spiral structure and the whole galaxy is laced with delicate dust lanes.

This zoom sequence starts with a broad view of the southern skies far from the Milky Way. We slowly close in on the inconspicuous constellation of Fornax (the Furnace) and see some of the galaxies in the Fornax Galaxy Cluster. The final sequence shows the spectacular barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 in a new infrared image from the HAWK-I camera on ESO's VLT.

credit: ESO/A. Fujii/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Music: John Dyson (from the album "Darklight")

source: http://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1...

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