Destined to Collide

Noirlab_iotw2233a_1024

noirlab_iotw2233a August 17th, 2022

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Data obtained and processed by: P. Massey (Lowell Obs.), G. Jacoby, K. Olsen, & C. Smith (AURA/NSF)  Image processing: M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), A. Hussein (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

The Triangulum Galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 33, lies almost 3 million light-years from Earth, and is a near neighbor of the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is imaged here by the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab.  The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group, a cluster of galaxies that includes our Milky Way and its closest neighbors. The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest member. The Triangulum Galaxy and Andromeda Galaxy have history together, but astronomers are still investigating the details. Their close proximity has caused some researchers to suggest that Triangulum is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy, not unlike the way the Moon is a satellite of the Earth — just on a much, much bigger scale. Alternatively, some researchers propose that these two galaxies may be independent and have simply brushed past each other, as evidenced by streams of stars and neutral hydrogen gas linking the two galaxies. However they have interacted, it’s probable that they will dramatically collide in 2.5 billion years, resulting in their consolidation and eventual evolution into a lenticular galaxy.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2233a/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M33
Noirlab_iotw2233a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 1h 33m 49.1s
DEC = 30° 40’ 9.9”
Orientation
North is 89.9° CW
Field of View
35.9 x 35.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Triangulum

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (Ha) 656.0 nm
Red KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (I) 805.0 nm
Yellow KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (R) 644.0 nm
Green KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (V) 537.0 nm
Blue KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (B) 436.0 nm
Orange KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (SII) 672.0 nm
Cyan KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (O III) 499.0 nm
Purple KPNO-4m (Mosaic I) Optical (U) 357.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Red
Red
Yellow
Green
Blue
Orange
Cyan
Purple
Noirlab_iotw2233a_1280
×
ID
iotw2233a
Subject Category
Subject Name
M33
Credits
KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Data obtained and processed by: P. Massey (Lowell Obs.), G. Jacoby, K. Olsen, & C. Smith (AURA/NSF)  Image processing: M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), A. Hussein (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
Release Date
2022-08-17T12:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2233a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Instrument
Mosaic I, Mosaic I, Mosaic I, Mosaic I, Mosaic I, Mosaic I, Mosaic I, Mosaic I
Color Assignment
Red, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Cyan, Purple
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
Ha, I, R, V, B, SII, O III, U
Central Wavelength
656, 805, 644, 537, 436, 672, 499, 357
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
23.4546272722, 30.6694260659
Reference Dimension
7968.0, 7899.0
Reference Pixel
3984.0, 3949.5
Scale
-7.50850565131e-05, 7.50850565131e-05
Rotation
-89.939999999999827
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NSF's NOIRLab
URL
https://noirlab.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
950 North Cherry Ave.
City
Tucson
State/Province
AZ
Postal Code
85719
Country
USA
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
NSF's NOIRLab
Publisher ID
noirlab
Resource ID
iotw2233a
Metadata Date
2022-08-10T15:36:15+02:00
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In