Chandra Release - July 23, 2002

Visual Description: NGC 1569

The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 features a variety of blobs and colors.  The main subject of the image is the dwarf galaxy NGC 1569, which appears as a large, highly irregularly-shaped object in the center of the image. The galaxy has a mottled appearance, consisting of shades of red, blue, and green, as well as white, on a black background, with some areas appearing brighter or darker than others.  There are several bright spots scattered throughout the galaxy, varying in size and shape. NGC 1569 is 7 million light years away from Earth, and shows large hot bubbles, or lobes extending above and below a disk of gas along the equator of the galaxy. The 27-hour Chandra observation allowed scientists to measure for the first time the concentration of oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon in the bubbles and the disk. They found that bubbles contain oxygen equal to the oxygen contained in 3 million suns.