NGC 3324

7,200 light-years (2.2 kiloparsecs)

This image is roughly 6.5 arcminutes (13.4 light-years or 4.1 parsecs) wide.

This image was created from HST data from proposals 10475: N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), J. Bally University of Colorado, Boulder), N. Walborn (STScI), and J. Morse (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and 11800: K. Noll, H. Bond, C. Christian, L. Frattare, F. Hamilton, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, and W. Januszewski (Hubble Heritage Team/STScI), A. Bowers (Baltimore, MD) and N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley).

ACS: F658N (H-alpha+[N II])
WFPC2: F502N ([O III]) and F673N ([S II])

Illustration: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI);
Image: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley)

The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the ACS and WFPC2 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Three filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are:

Blue: F502N ([O III])
Green: F658N (H-alpha+[N II])
Red: F673N ([S II])