Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1313 – VLT

This is a view of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1313 taken with the the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile on Dec. 16, 2003 through various broad-band (B, R, z) and narrow-band filters (H-alpha, [o I], [O III]). The color composited image was made by assigning B to the blue channel, [O I] and [O III] to the green channel, and R, z, and H-alpha to the red channel. This gives many of the nebulous shells along the outer spiral arms a yellow/red hue. The outline of the central region indicates the area observed with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

About the colours

The VLT image (right) is a composite of many separate exposures made by European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope using several different filters. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: Broad-band (B) Green: Narrow-band (H-alpha, [o I], [O III]) Red: Broad-band (R) and (z)