NGC 1532

In 2013, during a stay at the astrofarm Tivoli in Namibia, I imaged the interacting galaxy NGC 1532 using a rented observatory. The exceptionally dark southern skies provided ideal conditions to capture the extended structure of this impressive galaxy system.

NGC 1532 is located in the constellation Eridanus at a distance of approximately 50–60 million light-years. It is a large edge-on barred spiral galaxy, notable for its elongated disk and prominent dust lane cutting across its central region. The galaxy is part of a strongly interacting pair with the smaller companion NGC 1531, which can be seen just above the disk.

This gravitational interaction has significantly distorted the structure of this galaxy, triggering enhanced star formation and producing tidal features within the system. Observations in multiple wavelengths reveal active regions along the disk as well as extended gaseous components influenced by the interaction. Such galaxy pairs are valuable laboratories for studying the effects of tidal forces on galactic evolution.

Under Namibia’s pristine skies, the fine dust structures, the thin galactic disk, and the nearby companion galaxy could be captured with excellent contrast, making this object a particularly rewarding target for deep-sky imaging.

The data calibration and registration, as well as the final image processing, were all done with PixInsight.

The images were taken with the following equipment:

• Location: Tivoli, Namibia
• Telescope: 12″ ASA Astrograph
• Focal length [mm]: 1076
• Focal ratio: 3.6
• Mount: ASA DDM85
• Camera: FLI Microline ML8300
• Filter: L:R:G:B
• Exposure time [min]: 70:35:40:30
• Resolution: 1.04″/px