NGC 3314 from Hubble

Update 11/17/2021: This image was featured by NASA’s APOD! You can check out their version here: https://theastroenthusiast.com/ngc-3314-from-hubble/

This object is not one but two – two galaxies seeming to overlap by mere chance. The spiral galaxy in front is viewed nearly face-on, its pinwheel shape defined by young, blue, bright star clusters. Against the glow of the background galaxy, dark swirling lanes of interstellar dust appear to dominate the face-on spiral structure. The dust lanes are surprisingly pervasive, and this remarkable pair of overlapping galaxies is one of a small number of systems in which absorption of light from beyond a galaxy’s own stars can be used to directly explore its distribution of dust.

Image:

Details:

All data was taken from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) from the following proposal: https://archive.stsci.edu/proposal_search.php?mission=hst&id=6438

Processing:

Red: F814W
Green: Psuedo
Blue: F450W

• Image integration to create a better SNR image
• Image integration to create lum
• RGB channel combine
• ArcsinH stretch
• Curves transformation
• LRGB combination
• Large scale structure enhancement
• Local Histogram Equalization
• Curves transformation
• Sharpening