ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

Larger region of the sky around the starburst galaxy NGC 1313 showing the larger scale disturbance of the galaxy. The galaxy shows some large deformations in the lower right part of the image, while diffuse matter is also present at the top of the image. All this signals a very tormented past which could be at the origin of the burst of star formation.The image was made from data from the Digitized Sky Survey, obtained through blue, red and infrared filters. The "Second Epoch Survey" of the southern sky was made by the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) with the UK Schmidt Telescope. Plates from this survey have been digitized and compressed by the ST ScI. The data were extracted and colour-composed by Henri Boffin (ESO).