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Utraviolet Light Source in a …
Title Utraviolet Light Source in an Old Galaxy
Full Description Hubble Space Telescope's exquisite resolution has allowed astronomers to resolve, for the first time, hot blue stars deep inside an elliptical galaxy. The swarm of nearly 8,000 blue stars resembles a blizzard of snowflakes near the core (lower right) of the neighboring galaxy M32, located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. Hubble confirms that the ultraviolet light comes from a population of extremely hot helium-burning stars at a late stage in their lives. Unlike the Sun, which burns hydrogen into helium, these old stars exhausted their central hydrogen long ago, and now burn helium into heavier elements. The observations, taken in October 1998, were made with the camera mode of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) in ultraviolet light. The STIS field of view is only a small portion of the entire galaxy, which is 20 times wider on the sky. For reference, the full moon is 70 times wider than the STIS field-of-view. Thirty years ago, the first ultraviolet observations of elliptical galaxies showed that they were surprisingly bright when viewed in ultraviolet light. Before those pioneering UV observations, old groups of stars were assumed to be relatively cool and thus extremely faint in the ultraviolet. Over the years since the initial discovery of this unexpected ultraviolet light, indirect evidence has accumulated that it originates in a population of old, but hot, helium-burning stars. Now Hubble provides the first direct visual evidence.
Date 10/26/1999
NASA Center Hubble Space Telescope Center
Hubble Sees Early Building B …
Title Hubble Sees Early Building Blocks of Today's Galaxies
Hubble Spies Globular Cluste …
Title Hubble Spies Globular Cluster in Neighboring Galaxy
Far-Flung Galaxy Clusters Ma …
Title Far-Flung Galaxy Clusters May Reveal Fate of Universe
The Trifid Nebula: Stellar S …
Title The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Sibling Rivalry
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Deepest View of Space Yields …
Title Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo
Firestorm of Star Birth Seen …
Title Firestorm of Star Birth Seen in a Local Galaxy
General Information What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. Back to top [ #top ]
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk …
Title Hubble Finds Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around Black Hole
Hubble Space Telescope Finds …
Title Hubble Space Telescope Finds a Double Nucleus in the Andromeda Galaxy
Hubble Space Telescope Finds …
Title Hubble Space Telescope Finds a Double Nucleus in the Andromeda Galaxy
Core of the Globular Cluster …
Title Core of the Globular Cluster NGC 6624
Hubble Observations Support …
Title Hubble Observations Support Black Hole Explanation For Active Galaxies
Core of the Globular Cluster …
Title Core of the Globular Cluster NGC 6624
Hubble Identifies Primeval G …
Title Hubble Identifies Primeval Galaxies, Uncovers New Clues to the Universe's Evolution
Hubble Space Telescope Image …
Name of Image Hubble Space Telescope Image of NGC 4676, "The Mice
Date of Image 2002-04-07
Full Description The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the newest camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, has captured a spectacular pair of galaxies. Located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, the colliding galaxies have been nicknamed "The Mice" because of the long tails of stars and gas emanating from each galaxy. Otherwise known as NGC 4676, the pair will eventually merge into a single giant galaxy. In the galaxy at left, the bright blue patch is resolved into a vigorous cascade of clusters and associations of young, hot blue stars, whose formation has been triggered by the tidal forces of the gravitational interaction. The clumps of young stars in the long, straight tidal tail (upper right) are separated by fainter regions of material. These dim regions suggest that the clumps of stars have formed from the gravitational collapse of the gas and dust that once occupied those areas. Some of the clumps have luminous masses comparable to dwarf galaxies that orbit the halo of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Computer simulations by astronomers show that we are seeing two near identical spiral galaxies approximately 160 million years after their closest encounter. The simulations also show that the pair will eventually merge, forming a large, nearly spherical galaxy (known as an elliptical galaxy). The Mice presage what may happen to our own Milky Way several billion years from now when it collides with our nearest large neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). This picture is assembled from three sets of images taken on April 7, 2002, in blue, orange, and near-infrared filters. Credit: NASA, H. Fort (JHU), G. Illingworth (USCS/LO), M. Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA.
Explanation: The center of M …
Title Explanation: The center of M31 is twice as unusual as previously thought. In 1991 the Planetary Camera then onboard the Hubble Space Telescope pointed toward the center of our Milky Way's closest major galactic neighbor: Andromeda (M31). To everyone's surprise, M31's nucleus showed a double structure. The nuclear hot-spots are quite close together when considering Galactic distances: M31 is about 150,000 light years across while the above shows only the central 30 light-years. Subsequent ground-based observations have led to speculation that indeed two nuclei exist, are moving with respect to each other, that one nucleus is slowly tidally disrupting the other, and that one nucleus may be the remains of smaller galaxy "eaten" by M31. The nuclei of many galaxies, including M31, are known to be quite violent places, and the existence of massive black holes are frequently postulated to explain them.
The Andromeda Deep Field
Title The Andromeda Deep Field
Explanation What can you learn from looking into the depths of space? In an effort to find out true ages of stars in neighboring Andromeda galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021021.html ]'s halo [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/milkyway/components.html ], astronomers stared into the galaxy giant [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m031.html ] with the new Advanced Camera for Surveys [ http://acs.pha.jhu.edu/ ] through the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://www.stsci.edu/hst/HST_overview/ ]. The resulting exposure [ http://www.astronomy.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/321vkity.asp ] of over three days, shown above [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/2003/15/image/a ], is the deepest exposure in visible light ever taken, although shorter in duration than the multi-wavelength effort toward the Hubble Deep Field [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020901.html ]. The final image illuminated not only Andromeda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?M31 ] (M31) but the distant universe. Andromeda's halo stars [ http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_949_1.asp ] turned out to be have a wider range of ages than our Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/milky_way.html ]'s halo stars, likely indicating more encounters with small neighboring galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991003.html ]. Visible on the above [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/2003/15/ ] left is one of Andromeda's globular star clusters [ http://www.seds.org/messier/glob.html ], while literally thousands of background galaxies are seen in the distance universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030126.html ], far beyond M31.
M32: Blue Stars in an Ellipt …
Title M32: Blue Stars in an Elliptical Galaxy
Explanation Elliptical galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961106.html ] are known for their old, red stars. But is this old elliptical [ http://www.seds.org/messier/elli.html ] up to new tricks? In recent years, the centers of elliptical galaxies [ http://www.windows.umich.edu/cgi-bin/tour.cgi?link=/the_universe/Ellipticals.html ] have been found [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991103.html http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1998AJ....116.2297P ] to emit unexpectedly high amounts of blue and ultraviolet light [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html ]. Most blue light from spiral galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990926.html ] originates from massive young hot stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991103.html ap981025.html ], in contrast to the red light from the old cool stars thought to compose ellipticals. In the above recently released, false-color photograph [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1999/40/pr-photos.html ] by the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://www.stsci.edu/hst/ ], the center of nearby dwarf elliptical M32 has actually been resolved and does indeed show thousands of bright blue stars. The answer [ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999AAS...194.0713B ] is probably that these blue stars [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1999/40/index.html ] are also old and glow blue, reaching relatively high temperatures by the advanced process [ http://zebu.uoregon.edu/textbook/se.html ] of fusing helium [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/gifcity/msblues.html ], rather than hydrogen [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#hydrogen ], in their cores. M32 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960106.html ] appears in many pictures as the companion galaxy to the massive Andromeda Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971101.html ] (M31).
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