Astronomical Images

Top right and left:  These galaxies are from an on-going program at SALT using SALTICAM - pictures were taken just this week - where astronomers study dust lanes in early type galaxies.  Images are taken in multiple filters from ultra-violet to near-infrared.  The dust extincts the background smooth distribution of stellar light, and this is used to derive dust properties in these distant galaxies.  In addition, the dust lanes are used to probe both the shape of the surrounding dark matter halo and the history of these galaxies. The lanes probably remnants of long gone galaxies which have merged into the one seen now.

Bottom left and right are snap-shots (acquisition images) of targets studied with the SALT spectrograph RSS (before it was taken down).  On the left is a supernova from a program where SALT spectra were used to identify type Ia supernova explosions, so that they can then be used as cosmological distance indicators.  On the right is a globular cluster, from the core of which SALT/RSS took spectra and derived velocities to look for and characterize intermediate mass black holes.

At the centre is a large nearby face-on galaxy.  Older stars in the middle show as yellow in this false-colour image, and younger star forming regions in the spiral arms as purple. Galaxies like this will be studied in "3D" using the Fabry-Perot imaging spectrographic capabilities of the RSS instrument.