by Ann » Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:19 pm
The PGC, Principal Galaxy Catalog, has this to say about NGC 3314 (among other things):
Barred galaxy
Multiple object galaxy
Total B magnitude: 14.031 ± 0.355
Effective U-B color: +0.120
Effective B-V color: +0.770
Kinematic distance modulus: 32.779
Absolute B magnitude: -19.567
Distance: 35 megaparsecs (110 light-years)
Galactic luminosity: 10 billion suns (0.4 times Milky Way)
Far infrared magnitude: 12.545
Conclusions: NGC 3314 would immediately appear to be a smallish galaxy. On the other hand, the fact that one galaxy is in front of the other one might mean that the total luminosity is higher than it appears to be. The galaxy that is behind the other one could have a very bright but hidden center, which would raise the luminosity a lot if we could see it.
NGC 3314 is a moderately blue galaxy. There is definitely star formation, but not an overwhelming amount of it. However, there might be more than we can see or detect with B-V and U-B indexes, because there may be quite a lot of star formation that is hidden by dust. Question: Does the star formation belong to both galaxies in equal amounts? Or is it, perhaps, mostly located in the foreground galaxy?
NGC 3314 is a relatively dusty galaxy. It is 1½ magnitudes brighter in the far infrared than in blue light. This testifies to the dusty nature of the foreground galaxy. It is difficult to say much about the background galaxy, or so I think, but I may be wrong about that.
Ann
The PGC, Principal Galaxy Catalog, has this to say about NGC 3314 (among other things):
Barred galaxy
Multiple object galaxy
Total B magnitude: 14.031 ± 0.355
Effective U-B color: +0.120
Effective B-V color: +0.770
Kinematic distance modulus: 32.779
Absolute B magnitude: -19.567
Distance: 35 megaparsecs (110 light-years)
Galactic luminosity: 10 billion suns (0.4 times Milky Way)
Far infrared magnitude: 12.545
Conclusions: NGC 3314 would immediately appear to be a smallish galaxy. On the other hand, the fact that one galaxy is in front of the other one might mean that the total luminosity is higher than it appears to be. The galaxy that is behind the other one could have a very bright but hidden center, which would raise the luminosity a lot if we could see it.
NGC 3314 is a moderately blue galaxy. There is definitely star formation, but not an overwhelming amount of it. However, there might be more than we can see or detect with B-V and U-B indexes, because there may be quite a lot of star formation that is hidden by dust. Question: Does the star formation belong to both galaxies in equal amounts? Or is it, perhaps, mostly located in the foreground galaxy?
NGC 3314 is a relatively dusty galaxy. It is 1½ magnitudes brighter in the far infrared than in blue light. This testifies to the dusty nature of the foreground galaxy. It is difficult to say much about the background galaxy, or so I think, but I may be wrong about that.
Ann