NASA's Hubble and Chandra Find Evidence for Densest Nearby Galax

Chandra_550_1024

chandra_550 September 24th, 2013

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSU/J.Strader et al, Optical: NASA/STScI

The densest galaxy in the nearby Universe may have been found. The galaxy, known as M60-UCD1, is located near a massive elliptical galaxy NGC 4649, also called M60. This composite image of M60 and the region around it presents X-rays from Chandra (pink) and optical data from Hubble (red, green, and blue). The Chandra image shows hot gas and double stars containing black holes and neutron stars, and the HST image reveals stars in M60 and neighboring galaxies including M60-UCD1. The inset is a close-up view of M60-UCD1 in an HST image. The density of stars in M60-UDC1 is about 15,000 times greater than found in Earth's neighborhood in the Milky Way, meaning that the stars are about 25 times closer.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/m60/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
M60-UCD1
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Elliptical

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
54,000,000 light years
Chandra_550_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 43m 38.0s
DEC = 11° 33’ 21.7”
Orientation
North is 26.7° CW
Field of View
3.2 x 3.2 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Magenta Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (g-band) 475.0 nm
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical -
Red Hubble (ACS) Optical (z-band) 850.0 nm
Spectrum_xray1w
Magenta
Blue
Red
Chandra_550_1280
×
ID
550
Subject Category
C.5.1.4  
Subject Name
M60-UCD1
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSU/J.Strader et al, Optical: NASA/STScI
Release Date
2013-09-24
Lightyears
54,000,000
Redshift
54,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/m60/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Hubble, Hubble, Hubble
Instrument
ACIS, ACS, ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Magenta, Blue, Green, Red
Band
X-ray, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
X-ray, g-band, -, z-band
Central Wavelength
0.8267, 475, -, 850
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
190.9084358, 11.5560223
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
1.47283e-05, 1.4728264e-05
Rotation
-26.72
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
m60.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/m60/m60.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2013-09-24T10:38:08-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
54,000,000 light years

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