Ritratto di una bellezza
Nel centro della costellazione della Vergine giace una bellissima gemma cosmica - la galassia Messier 61. Questa scintillante galassia a spirale, vista frontalmente dalla Terra, ci offre così una visione mozzafiato della sua struttura. Il gas e la polvere delle intricate braccia a spirale sono costellate di miliardi di stelle. Questa galassia è molto attiva con un rapido tasso di formazione stellare, essa ha sia un massiccio ammasso nucleare che un enorme buco nero sepolti nel suo cuore.
Messier 61 è uno dei membri più grandi dell'ammasso della Vergine, costituito da più di mille galassie, si trova al centro del superammasso della Vergine - a cui appartiene anche la nostra Via Lattea. Questa bellezza abbagliante fu scoperta per la prima volta nel 1779 e da allora ha catturato l'attenzione degli astronomi. Confrontato ad un cielo scuro disseminato di galassie, questa immagine mostra l'imponente M61 nella sua piena gloria - nonostante la sua distanza di oltre 50 milioni di anni luce.
Questa immagine è stata presa nell’ambito del programma Cosmic Gems dell'ESO, un'iniziativa di sensibilizzazione per produrre immagini di oggetti interessanti, intriganti o visivamente attraenti, usando i telescopi dell'ESO a fini educativi e divulgativi. Il programma utilizza il tempo del telescopio che non può essere utilizzato per le osservazioni scientifiche. Nel caso in cui i dati raccolti potrebbero essere utili per futuri scopi scientifici, queste osservazioni sono salvate e rese disponibili agli astronomi attraverso l’archivio scientifico di ESO.
Crediti:ESO
A proposito dell'immagine
| Identificazione: | potw1901a |
| Lingua: | it |
| Tipo: | Osservazione |
| Data di pubblicazione: | Lunedì 07 Gennaio 2019 06:00 |
| Dimensione: | 1457 x 1486 px |
A proposito delll'oggetto
| Nome: | Messier 61, NGC 4303 |
| Tipo: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
| Distanza: | 50 Milione Anni luce |
| Constellation: | Virgo |
Formati delle immagini
Coordinate
| Position (RA): | 12 21 57.51 |
| Position (Dec): | 4° 28' 25.12" |
| Field of view: | 6.11 x 6.24 arcminutes |
| Orientazione: | Il Nord è a -0.0° a sinistra della verticale |
Colori e filtri
| Banda | Lunghezza d'onda | Telescopio |
|---|---|---|
| Ottico b | 440 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Ottico v | 557 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Infrarosso R | 655 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Ottico H-alpha | 656 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
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