The Most Luminous Known Galaxy

Nrao_nrao_gallery_nrao18ch26_artimp_final_1024

nrao_NRAO_Gallery_nrao18ch26_artimp_Final  

Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello

Artist impression of W2246-0526, the most luminous known galaxy, and three companion galaxies. New observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal distinct streamers of material being pulled from the three smaller galaxies and flowing into the more massive galaxy, which was discovered in 2015 by NASAs space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). It is by no means the largest or most massive galaxy we know of, but it is unrivaled in its brightness, emitting as much infrared light as 350 trillion Suns.

Provider: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Image Source: https://public.nrao.edu/news/2018-alma-luminous-streamers/

Curator: NRAO/AUI/NSF, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

View Options View Options

Download Options Download Options

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Object Name
W2246-0526
Subject - General
Galaxy > Activity > Ultraluminous

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
12,400,000 light years
Nrao_nrao_gallery_nrao18ch26_artimp_final_1280
×
ID
NRAO_Gallery_nrao18ch26_artimp_Final
Subject Category
E.5.3.4  
Subject Name
W2246-0526
Credits
NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello
Release Date
Lightyears
12.4E+06
Redshift
12.4E+06
Reference Url
https://public.nrao.edu/news/2018-alma-luminous-streamers/
Type
Artwork
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NRAO/AUI/NSF
URL
https://public.nrao.edu
Name
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Email
outreach@nrao.edu
Telephone
Address
520 Edgemont Road
City
Charlottesville
State/Province
Virginia
Postal Code
22903
Country
USA
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Publisher
NRAO/AUI/NSF
Publisher ID
nrao
Resource ID
Resource URL
/image/nrao/NRAO_Gallery_nrao18ch26_artimp_Final
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2018-11-16T10:19:57-05:00
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
12,400,000 light years

Providers | Sign In

NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA’s Science Activation program, which strives to further enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively and efficiently with learners of all ages.