A broad and narrow galactic view

Esahubble_potw2423a_1024

esahubble_potw2423a June 3rd, 2024

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker

This Picture of the Week features the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3059, which lies about 57 million light-years from Earth. The data used to compose this image were collected by Hubble in May 2024, as part of an observing programme that studied a number of galaxies. All the observations were made using the same range of filters: partially transparent materials that allow only very specific wavelengths of light to pass through.  Filters are used extensively in observational astronomy, and can be calibrated to allow either extremely narrow or somewhat broader ranges of light through. Narrow-band filters are invaluable from a scientific perspective because certain light wavelengths are associated with specific physical and chemical processes. For example, under particular conditions, hydrogen atoms are known to emit red light with wavelength value of 656.46 nanometres. Red light at this wavelength is known as H-alpha emission, or the ‘H-alpha line’. It is very useful to astronomers because its presence acts as an indicator of certain physical processes and conditions; it is often a tell-tale sign of new stars being formed, for example. Thus, narrow-band filters calibrated to allow H-alpha emission through can be used to identify regions of space where stars are forming.  Such a filter was used for this image, the narrow-band filter called F657N or the H-alpha filter. The F stands for filter, and the N stands for narrow. The numerical value refers to the peak wavelength (in nanometres) that the filter lets through. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that 657 is very close to the 656.46 H-alpha line’s wavelength. Data collected using five other filters contributed to this image as well, all of which were wide-band filters; meaning that they allow a wider range of light wavelengths through. This is less useful for identifying extremely specific lines (such as the H-alpha line) but still enables astronomers to explore relatively specific parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. In addition, collectively the information from multiple filters can be used to make beautiful images such as this one. [Image Description: A spiral galaxy seen face-on, so that its many arms and its glowing, bar-shaped core can be easily seen. The arms are filled with bluish patches of older stars, pink patches where new stars are forming, and dark threads of dust. A few bright stars with cross-shaped diffraction spikes lie in the foreground.] Links Pan of NGC 3059

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://esahubble.org/images/potw2423a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Baltimore, MD, United States

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 3059
Esahubble_potw2423a_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 9h 50m 8.4s
DEC = -73° 55’ 18.8”
Orientation
North is 39.1° CCW
Field of View
2.8 x 2.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Carina

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Hubble (WFC3) Ultraviolet (UV) 275.0 nm
Purple Hubble (WFC3) Optical (U) 336.0 nm
Blue Hubble (WFC3) Optical (B) 438.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFC3) Optical (V) 555.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFC3) Optical (H-alpha + NII) 657.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Purple
Purple
Blue
Green
Red
Red
Esahubble_potw2423a_1280
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ID
potw2423a
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 3059
Credits
ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker
Release Date
2024-06-03T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://esahubble.org/images/potw2423a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3, WFC3
Color Assignment
Purple, Purple, Blue, Green, Red, Red
Band
Ultraviolet, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
UV, U, B, V, I, H-alpha + NII
Central Wavelength
275, 336, 438, 555, 814, 657
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None, None, None, None, None, None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
147.5352079799939, -73.92189700567248
Reference Dimension
4183.0, 3817.0
Reference Pixel
2091.5, 1908.5
Scale
-1.100898579084415e-05, 1.100898579084415e-05
Rotation
39.119999999999919
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
https://esahubble.org
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
United States
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
potw2423a
Metadata Date
2024-05-31T21:56:19+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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