NGC 7469

NGC 7469 is a Seyfert 1 galaxy with a well known starburst rin around it. It has been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in the visible amd with other adaptive optics system in the infrared. The Seyfert 1 nucleus provides a good source to lock the loop, and the very close environment is rich with morphological information on the starburst phenomena.

The left pannel shows the image of NGC 7469 with a logarithmic scale, while the right pannel shows the same image with a linear scale and cuts to enhance the starburst ring around it. This image was obtained through the wide band H filter (1.65 microns). It is a mosaic of images obtained over two nights (July 23rd and 24th 1999); each individual frames was 5 second long and the image is the sum of approximately one hundred such frames.

The scale here is the same as above, but these images were obtained in the K' band (2.1 microns). The individial frames were 5 seconds long and there are approximately 50 such frames mosaiced here. Note that even though the signal to noise ratio on the ring is slightly less than on he H band image (due to the lesser number of frames obtained in the mosaic process), the resolution and image quality is somewhat better (as shown by the diffraction ring around the nucleus).

Combining these two images produces the images below. Because of very low absorption and because most of the flux in the starburst ring is stellar, there are no color gradients or proeminent features in this true color composite. [NB, blue is K' and red is H].


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