A Lonely Spiral in a Tapestry of Galaxies
This stunning image features NGC 3198, a galaxy that lies about 47 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. This image was taken with the Mosaic instrument on the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, and shows the full extent of the galaxy, from the bright central bulge to the tenuous outer reaches of the tightly-wound spiral arms. Almost all the objects lurking in the background are galaxies or galaxy clusters — a sea of distant galaxies of all shapes, sizes, and orientations.
Accurately measuring the distance to an astronomical object — everything from our own Sun to galaxies such as NGC 3198 — is an age-old challenge for astronomers, and requires a combination of measurements and methods. The galaxy at the heart of this image has played a part in this astronomical undertaking by allowing astronomers to calibrate astronomical distance measurements based on a type of variable star known as a Cepheid variable.
Credit:KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA.
Acknowledgments:
PI: M T. Patterson (New Mexico State University)
Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin
About the Image
Id: | iotw2035a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | Aug. 26, 2020, 10:02 a.m. |
Size: | 3168 x 2485 px |
About the Object
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 10 19 55.95 |
Position (Dec): | 45° 33' 22.61" |
Field of view: | 13.82 x 10.84 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 90.0° left of vertical |
Colors & filters
Band | Wave-length | Tele-scope |
---|---|---|
Optical U | 355 nm | Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope Mosaic I |
Optical B | 438 nm | Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope Mosaic I |
Optical R | 651 nm | Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope Mosaic I |
Optical H-alpha | 657 nm | Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope Mosaic I |