Radio Galaxy Zoo Talk

interesting emission

  • nahuper by nahuper

    interesting emission energy to the sides of the object in the infrared wave longitude

    Posted

  • MyOtherHead by MyOtherHead

    IR source image very diffuse. Does that mean very far away?

    Posted

  • JeanTate by JeanTate in response to MyOtherHead's comment.

    Welcome to RGZ, MyOtherHead!

    Generally, no. The IR image is created from WISE data, and it has a resolution of ~5" (5 arcsecs). That means that anything ~this size and smaller will appear as a 'point source', an approx circular blob. The brighter the source, the bigger the blog will appear.

    Sometimes - actually quite often - two or more IR sources will appear close together on the sky (even if they are, physically, at vastly different distances from us, and each other). This will make them appear connected, and even sometimes produce strange shapes.

    Galaxies which are relatively close may appear bigger than 5", so they will appear as an extended IR source, usually oval or elliptical in shape.

    Hope this helps, and happy hunting! 😃

    Posted