Wide view of Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 snapped this wide view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512. A wispy bar of material can barely be seen slicing vertically through the galaxy. The bar is funneling gas to the heart of the galaxy, fueling a ring of star birth. Blue-colored stars along the galaxy's outer edge trace the grand spiral arms.

About the data

Principal Astronomers: D. Maoz (Tel-Aviv University/Columbia University), A. J. Barth (Harvard CfA), L. C. Ho (Carnegie Obs.), A. Sternberg (Tel-Aviv University and A. V. Filippenko (UC Berkeley).

Members of the group of scientists involved in these observations are: Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel and Columbia University, USA), Aaron J. Barth (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA), Luis C. Ho (The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, USA), Amiel Sternberg (Tel-Aviv University, Israel) and Alexei V. Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley, USA).