Astronomers create dazzling map of nearby galaxy in thousands of colors
Canaveral Cape, Florida – Astronomers have revealed a spiral galaxy nearby in all its shiny glory, shiny in thousands of colors.
The dazzling panoramic shot released on Wednesday from the sculptor galaxy by a telescope in Chile is so detailed that it already serves as a card filled with stars.
Scientists used the very large telescope of the Southern European Observatory to observe the galaxy for about 50 hours, bringing together more than 100 exhibitions to create the image. The image extends over 65,000 light years, almost all the galaxy. A light year is 5.8 miles of kilometers.
The sculptor – officially labeled NGC 253 – is considered a Starburst galaxy, heavy with a stellar action. It is located at 11 million light years in the sculptor of the constellation of the southern hemisphere, and easy to see with twins or small telescopes.
“The sculptor’s galaxy is in an ideal place,” said Enrico Conpiu of the Observatory, which led the research, in a press release. “It is close enough for us to be able to resolve its internal structure and study its constituent elements with incredible details, but at the same time, large enough so that we can always see it as a whole system.”
The more nuances of color of stars, gas and dust in a galaxy, the more the scientists have clues about their age, their composition and their movement. The last snap of the sculptor contains thousands of colors – a brilliant montage of purple, roses and yellows – compared to a handle for traditional images.
The team has already discovered 500 planetary nebulae, gas clouds and dust of the dying stars which can serve as cosmic mile markers. Their research has been accepted for publication in the magazine Astronomy & Astrophysics.
___
The Department of Health and Sciences of the Associated Press receives the support of the scientific and educational group of the media from the medical institute Howard Hughes and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
