A spiral galaxy adorns “Berenice’s Hair” in a hanging telescope photograph.
Though Charles Messier famously developed a catalog of celestial bodies within the 18th century that features this galaxy, recognized formally as NGC 4254, NASA writes that one other French astronomer by the identify of Pierre Méchain was the one who found it, in 1781. However its extra well-known observer is the one represented by the spiral galaxy’s widespread moniker, Messier 99.
This object is situated 55 million light-years away from Earth. Based on NASA, it may be seen utilizing a reasonably sized telescope within the month of Might. However the spiral galaxy obtained a high-definition remedy with sturdy observational instruments situated in South America. Messier 99’s well-defined arms resemble a pinwheel in a brand new picture from the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) PHANGS survey.
Associated: Take a stunning aerial tour of ESO’s big telescopes in Chile (video)
Brief for Physics at Excessive Angular decision in Close by Galaxies, PHANGS “produces high-resolution photos of close by galaxies throughout all wavelengths of sunshine,” ESO officers write in an Oct. 24 image description (opens in new tab). “This can permit astronomers to study extra concerning the numerous vary of galactic environments present in our universe.”
To watch Messier 99, astronomers directed two ESO services in Chile — the Very Giant Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Giant Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) — to see into “Berenice’s Hair,” a constellation formally often called Coma Berenices. It is situated within the northern sky, near the constellation Leo.
The orange shade of Messier 99’s spiral arms within the photograph, and the crimson at their edges, are ALMA information. These vibrant hues depict, in response to ESO, “chilly clouds of gasoline which might ultimately collapse into stars.”
The purple and blue tones glittering in distinction are stars distributed all through the galaxy. These cooler colours symbolize information from the VLT.
Messier 99 can provide astronomers extra clues about how stars kind within the universe. “Evaluating these two datasets [ALMA and VLT] permits for a greater understanding of how stars kind,” ESO officers write.
This object has additionally been the topic of different missions, just like the venerable Hubble Space Telescope. “This galaxy is known as a grand-design spiral,” NASA officers wrote in 2017 (opens in new tab) when describing the Hubble observations, “with lengthy, massive and clearly outlined spiral arms — giving it a construction considerably much like our house galaxy, the Milky Way.”
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