6dF Galaxies
Overview
The Six-degree Field (6dF) Galaxy Survey mapped roughly half the sky from the Anglo-Australian Observatory. The survey used the 1.2-meter UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia, and allowed for a six degree field of view per observation.
The 6dF galaxies resemble those of Tully, in scale and in color. We use the same color map for all galaxy surveys, where galaxies in more dense areas appear orange and yellow, and galaxies in less dense areas are green and aqua. The large-scale structure is clearly visible here, but not as consolidated as it is in the Tully Galaxies.
This catalog overlaps with the Tully Galaxies, and there is a noticeable difference in the quality of these datasets. Tully is much tighter and the structure is more apparent, while the 6dF data are more spread out with noticeable fingers of god. This is because of local motions within galaxy clusters have not been corrected in these data. (see explanation in the 2MASS Galaxies).
In addition, the 6dF Galaxies cover only the southern sky. It will only overlap with half of the Tully or 2MASS galaxy surveys.
An “edge-on” view of the 6dF Galaxies, which observed only the southern sky, hence the hard line. The “V” area with a lack of data is the shadow area of the Milky Way—the band of light from our own galaxy blocks our view of the galaxies beyond. As with other galaxy surveys, orange galaxies are in denser areas, aqua galaxies are in less dense areas.
Completeness
Unlike the Tully galaxies, these data show an incompleteness in the sample. Most of the rich structure is visible closer to the Milky Way, where we see more of the dimmer galaxies. Toward the edge of the data set we see galaxies by their lonesome. This is because these data are not as complete. We’re only seeing the brighter galaxies to this distance, and therefore less complex structures are visible.
The 6dF Galaxies from the night sky perspective. We see the band of the Milky Way, the stars and constellation lines, with lines of right ascension and declination. The 6dF Galaxies lie below the celestial equator, the southern half of the sky.
Profiles
Dossier
Census: |
117,441 galaxies |
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Asset File: |
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OpenSpace Version: |
3 |
Reference: |
The 6dF Galaxy Survey - Final Redshift Release (DR3) and Southern Large-scale Structures |
Prepared by: |
Brian Abbott, Sohum Udani (AMNH) |
Source Version: |
1.05 |
License: |