Astronomers Use Hubble and Keck to Identify Dwarf Galaxy
Title
Astronomers Use Hubble and Keck to Identify Dwarf Galaxy
Title
Object Name:
SDSS J0737 3216
Object_Name
SDSS J0737 3216
Object Name
Object Name:
SLACS J0737 3216
Object_Name
SLACS J0737 3216
Object Name
General Information:
What is a News Nugget?
News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy.
A team of astronomers at the University of California at Santa Barbara report that they have resolved a dwarf galaxy 6 billion light-years away. Weighing only 1/100 as much as our Milky Way Galaxy, the dwarf is much smaller than anything studied before in any detail at this distance.
They report in the Dec. 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal that the galaxy looks very similar to one of the dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster, which is located only 60 million light-years away. "We believe we may have identified the progenitors of local dwarf galaxies," says Tommaso Treu. "We see them as clearly as we would see dwarfs in the Virgo cluster using ground-based telescopes. The sharp view of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and the laser guide stars adaptive optics system on the W.M. Keck Telescope, were aimed at a natural lens in space, called a gravitational lens, to study the dwarf. The researchers took advantage of the fact that the distant dwarf galaxy lies behind a massive foreground galaxy that bends light rays much as a glass lens does. This gravitational lensing amplifies the image of the much farther dwarf galaxy, making it appear 10 times brighter and 10 times larger than it would normally be seen by either Hubble or Keck.
General_Information
What is a News Nugget?
News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy.
A team of astronomers at the University of California at Santa Barbara report that they have resolved a dwarf galaxy 6 billion light-years away. Weighing only 1/100 as much as our Milky Way Galaxy, the dwarf is much smaller than anything studied before in any detail at this distance.
They report in the Dec. 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal that the galaxy looks very similar to one of the dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster, which is located only 60 million light-years away. "We believe we may have identified the progenitors of local dwarf galaxies," says Tommaso Treu. "We see them as clearly as we would see dwarfs in the Virgo cluster using ground-based telescopes. The sharp view of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and the laser guide stars adaptive optics system on the W.M. Keck Telescope, were aimed at a natural lens in space, called a gravitational lens, to study the dwarf. The researchers took advantage of the fact that the distant dwarf galaxy lies behind a massive foreground galaxy that bends light rays much as a glass lens does. This gravitational lensing amplifies the image of the much farther dwarf galaxy, making it appear 10 times brighter and 10 times larger than it would normally be seen by either Hubble or Keck.
About the Object Object Name: SDSS J0737 3216, SLACS J0737 3216 Object Description: Gravitational Lens System Position (J2000): R.A. 07h 37m 28s.44 Dec. 32° 16' 18".47 Constellation: Gemini Distance: The background source that is being lensed has a distance of 6 billion light-years (1.8 billion parsecs). Redshift: The foreground lensing object is at a redshift z = 0.3223; the background source that is being lensed has a redshift z = 0.5812. About the Data Data Description:
The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 10494: L. Koopmans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara), A. Bolton (Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawaii), S. Burles (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and L. Moustakas (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
The science team includes P. Marshall and T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara), J. Melbourne (U.C.O./Lick Observatory/Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Gavazzi (University of California, Santa Barbara), K. Bundy (University of Toronto), M. Ammons (U.C.O./Lick Observatory/Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz), A. Bolton (Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawaii), S. Burles (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), J. Larkin (University of California, Los Angeles), D. Le Mignant (W. M. Keck Observatory; Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz), D. Koo (U.C.O./Lick Observatory University of California, Santa Cruz), L. Koopmans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), and C. Max (U.C.O./Lick Observatory/Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz).
Instrument: Hubble: ACS/WFC Hubble: NICMOS/NIC2 Keck II/ LGSAO Exposure Date(s): November 5, 2006 November 5, 2006 December 11, 2006 Exposure Time: 75 minutes 43 minutes 52 minutes Filters: F555W (V) and F814W (I) F160W K’-band with the near-infrared camera (NIRC2) About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Marshall and T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara) Release Date: October 4, 2007
Fast_Facts
Technical facts about this news release:
About the Object Object Name: SDSS J0737 3216, SLACS J0737 3216 Object Description: Gravitational Lens System Position (J2000): R.A. 07h 37m 28s.44 Dec. 32° 16' 18".47 Constellation: Gemini Distance: The background source that is being lensed has a distance of 6 billion light-years (1.8 billion parsecs). Redshift: The foreground lensing object is at a redshift z = 0.3223; the background source that is being lensed has a redshift z = 0.5812. About the Data Data Description:
The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 10494: L. Koopmans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara), A. Bolton (Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawaii), S. Burles (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and L. Moustakas (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
The science team includes P. Marshall and T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara), J. Melbourne (U.C.O./Lick Observatory/Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Gavazzi (University of California, Santa Barbara), K. Bundy (University of Toronto), M. Ammons (U.C.O./Lick Observatory/Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz), A. Bolton (Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawaii), S. Burles (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), J. Larkin (University of California, Los Angeles), D. Le Mignant (W. M. Keck Observatory; Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz), D. Koo (U.C.O./Lick Observatory University of California, Santa Cruz), L. Koopmans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), and C. Max (U.C.O./Lick Observatory/Center for Adaptive Optics, University of California, Santa Cruz).
Instrument: Hubble: ACS/WFC Hubble: NICMOS/NIC2 Keck II/ LGSAO Exposure Date(s): November 5, 2006 November 5, 2006 December 11, 2006 Exposure Time: 75 minutes 43 minutes 52 minutes Filters: F555W (V) and F814W (I) F160W K’-band with the near-infrared camera (NIRC2) About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Marshall and T. Treu (University of California, Santa Barbara) Release Date: October 4, 2007
Fast Facts
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*Image Type:*: Astronomical/Illustr ation
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*Image Type:*: Astronomical/Illustr ation
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*Release Date*:October 4, 2007 02:00 PM (EDT)
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*Release Date*:October 4, 2007 02:00 PM (EDT)
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*Title*:Astronomers Use Hubble and Keck to Identify Dwarf Galaxy
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*Title*:Astronomers Use Hubble and Keck to Identify Dwarf Galaxy
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-2007-38b
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-2007-38b
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*Description*:
This is a color composite image of the gravitational lens system, made from Hubble (blue and green filters) and Keck (red filter) data. The blue ring is the tiny background galaxy that is being stretched by the gravitational pull of the foreground "lens" galaxy at the center of the image.
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*Description*:
This is a color composite image of the gravitational lens system, made from Hubble (blue and green filters) and Keck (red filter) data. The blue ring is the tiny background galaxy that is being stretched by the gravitational pull of the foreground "lens" galaxy at the center of the image.
