|
Collection:
|
|
NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Collection
NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Collection
|
|
Title:
|
|
Galactic Silhouettes
Title
Galactic Silhouettes
Title
|
|
Full Description:
|
|
This new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and its Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) shows the unique galaxy pair called NGC 3314. Through an extraordinary chance alignment, a face-on spiral galaxy lies precisely in front of another larger spiral. This line-up provides us with the rare chance to visualize dark material within the front galaxy, seen only because it is silhouetted against the object behind it. Dust lying in the spiral arms of the foreground galaxy stands out where it absorbs light from the more distant galaxy. This silhouetting shows us where the interstellar dust clouds are located, and how much light they absorb. The outer spiral arms of the front galaxy appear to change from bright to dark, as they are projected first against deep space, and then against the bright background of the other galaxy. NGC 3314 lies about 140 million light-years from Earth, in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellation Hydra. The bright blue stars forming a pinwheel shape near the center of the front galaxy have formed recently from interstellar gas and dust. A small, red patch near the center of the image is the bright nucleus of the background galaxy, NGC 3314b. It is reddened for the same reason the setting sun looks red. When light passes through a volume containing small particles (molecules in the Earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust particles in galaxies), its color becomes redder. The Hubble Heritage color image of NGC 3314 was constructed from archival images taken with WFPC2 in April 1999 by Drs. William Keel and Ray White III (University of Alabama) in blue and infrared light, combined with new images obtained by the Heritage team in March 2000 using blue, green and red filters.
Full_Description
This new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and its Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) shows the unique galaxy pair called NGC 3314. Through an extraordinary chance alignment, a face-on spiral galaxy lies precisely in front of another larger spiral. This line-up provides us with the rare chance to visualize dark material within the front galaxy, seen only because it is silhouetted against the object behind it. Dust lying in the spiral arms of the foreground galaxy stands out where it absorbs light from the more distant galaxy. This silhouetting shows us where the interstellar dust clouds are located, and how much light they absorb. The outer spiral arms of the front galaxy appear to change from bright to dark, as they are projected first against deep space, and then against the bright background of the other galaxy. NGC 3314 lies about 140 million light-years from Earth, in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellation Hydra. The bright blue stars forming a pinwheel shape near the center of the front galaxy have formed recently from interstellar gas and dust. A small, red patch near the center of the image is the bright nucleus of the background galaxy, NGC 3314b. It is reddened for the same reason the setting sun looks red. When light passes through a volume containing small particles (molecules in the Earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust particles in galaxies), its color becomes redder. The Hubble Heritage color image of NGC 3314 was constructed from archival images taken with WFPC2 in April 1999 by Drs. William Keel and Ray White III (University of Alabama) in blue and infrared light, combined with new images obtained by the Heritage team in March 2000 using blue, green and red filters.
Full Description
|
|
Date:
|
|
05/11/2000
|
|
NASA Center:
|
|
Hubble Space Telescope Center
NASA_Center
Hubble Space Telescope Center
NASA Center
|
|
Subject Category:
|
|
Deep Space Studies
Subject_Category
Deep Space Studies
Subject Category
|
|
Subject Category:
|
|
Hubble
Subject_Category
Hubble
Subject Category
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Space
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Field
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Camera
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
2
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Telescope
Keywords
Telescope
Keywords
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Wide
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Planetary
Keywords
Planetary
Keywords
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Hubble
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
HST
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
WFPC
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Spiral
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
NGC
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
3314
|
|
Keywords:
|
|
Galaxy
|
|
Audience:
|
|
General Public
Audience
General Public
Audience
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Camera 2
facet_what
Camera 2
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Aura
facet_what
Aura
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Hydra
facet_what
Hydra
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Alabama
facet_where
Alabama
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
NGC 3314
facet_where
NGC 3314
facet_where
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
March 2000
facet_when
March 2000
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
April 1999
facet_when
April 1999
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
05-11-2000
facet_when
05-11-2000
facet_when
|
|
facet_when_year:
|
|
1999
facet_when_year
1999
facet_when_year
|
|
facet_when_year:
|
|
2000
facet_when_year
2000
facet_when_year
|
|
Image #:
|
|
PR00-14
|
|
original_url:
|
original_url
original_url
|
|
UID:
|
|
SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0893
UID
SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 0893
UID
|
|
Center:
|
|
HSTI
|
|
Center Number:
|
|
PR00-14
Center_Number
PR00-14
Center Number
|
|
GRIN DataBase Number:
|
|
GPN-2000-000893
GRIN_DataBase_Number
GPN-2000-000893
GRIN DataBase Number
|
|
Creator-Photographer:
|
|
NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA ODGalactic Silhouettes
Creator-Photographer
NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA ODGalactic Silhouettes
Creator-Photographer
|
|
Original Source:
|
|
DIGITAL
Original_Source
DIGITAL
Original Source
|
