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Images of M100 and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Hubble Images of M100 Before
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| Title |
Hubble Images of M100 Before and After Mirror Repair |
| Full Description |
This comparison image of the core of the galaxy M100 shows the dramatic improvement in Hubble Space Telescope's view of the universe after the first Hubble Servicing Mission in December 1993. The new image, taken with the second generation Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC-2) installed during the STS-61 Hubble Servicing Mission, beautifully demonstrates that the camera's corrective optics compensate fully for the optical aberration in Hubble's primary mirror. With the new camera, the Hubble explored the universe with unprecedented clarity and sensitivity, and fulfilled its most important scientific objectives for which the telescope was originally built. Image on right: The core of the grand design spiral glazy M100, as imaged by WFPC-2 in its high-resolution channel. WRPC-2's modified optics corrected Hubble's previously blurry vision, allowing the telescope for the first time to cleanly resolve faint structures as small as 30 light-years across in a galaxy tens of millions of light-years away. The image was taken on December 31, 1993. Image on left: For comparison, a picture taken with a WFPC-1 camera in wide-field mode on November 27, 1993, just a few days prior to the STS-61 servicing mission. The effects of optical aberration in HST's 2.4-meter primary mirror blur starlight, smear out fine detail, and limit the telescope's ability to see faint structure. Both Hubble images were "raw," they were not processed using computer image reconstruction techniques that improved aberrated images made before the servicing mission. The Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2 was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center for NASA's Office of Space Science. |
| Date |
12/31/1993 |
| NASA Center |
Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Hubble's Improved Optics Rev
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| Title |
Hubble's Improved Optics Reveal Incredible Detail in Giant Cloud of Gas and Dust |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. An image of a star-forming region in the 30 Doradus nebula, surrounding the dense star cluster R136. The image was obtained using the second generation Wide Filed and Planetary Camera (WFPC-2), installed in the Hubble Space Telescope during the STS-61 Servicing Mission. The WFPC-2 contains modified optics to correct for the aberration of the Hubble's primary mirror. The new optics will allow the telescope to tackle many of the most important scientific programs for which the it was built, but had to be temporarily shelved with the discovery of the spherical aberration in 1990. |
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The Virgo Cluster of Galaxie
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| Title |
The Virgo Cluster of Galaxies |
| Explanation |
Pictured are several galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, the closest cluster of galaxies [ http://www.astr.ua.edu/white/mug/cluster/clusters.html ] to our Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990224.html ]. The Virgo Cluster [ http://www.seds.org/messier/more/virgo.html ] spans more than 5 degrees on the sky - about 10 times the angle made by a full Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ]. It contains over 100 galaxies of many types - including spirals [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/spiral_galaxies.html ], ellipticals [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/elliptical_galaxies.html ], and irregular [ http://www.seds.org/messier/irre.html ] galaxies. The Virgo Cluster [ http://www.astr.ua.edu/white/mug/cluster/virgo.html ] is so massive that it is noticeably pulling our Galaxy toward it. The cluster contains not only galaxies filled with stars but also gas so hot [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960419.html ] it glows in X-rays [ http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/05250_A.html ]. Motions of galaxies in and around clusters indicate that they contain more dark matter [ http://cfpa.berkeley.edu/darkmat/dm.html ] than any visible matter we can see. Notable bright galaxies in the Virgo Cluster include bright Messier objects [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/messier.html ] such as M61 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980922.html ], M87 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950913.html ], M90 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960316.html ], and M100 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980606.html ]. |
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M100: A Grand Design
| Title |
M100: A Grand Design |
| Explanation |
Majestic [ http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/pubserv/hos/stars/welcome.htm ] on a truly cosmic scale, M100 [ http://bozo.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/m/m100.html ] is appropriately known as a Grand Design spiral [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961030.html ] galaxy. A large galaxy of over 100 billion or so stars with well defined spiral arms [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960409.html ], it is similar to our own Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970315.html ]. One of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies [ http://bozo.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/more/virgo.html ] , M100 (alias NGC 4321) is 56 million light-years distant in the spring constellation of Coma Berenices [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ constellations/Coma_Berenices.html ]. This Hubble Space Telescope image [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/94/01.html ] of the central region of M100 was made in 1993 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. It reveals the bright blue star clusters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980329.html ] and intricate winding dust lanes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980116.html ] which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies [ http://hermes.astro.washington.edu:80/scied/astro/hubble/hubble.html ]. Studies of stars in M100 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960110.html ] have recently played an important role in determining the size and age [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/ debate_1996.html ] of the Universe. |
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The Spiral Galaxy M100
| Title |
The Spiral Galaxy M100 |
| Explanation |
The M100 galaxy is a large spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way, containing over 100 billion stars. It is over 150 million light years away, so the light we see left when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The picture was taken in 1993 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. For more information see NASA Space Telescope Scientific Institute press release. [ http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/HST/press/m100.html ] |
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M100 and the Expanding Unive
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| Title |
M100 and the Expanding Universe |
| Explanation |
The distance to the swirling grand design spiral [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951218.html ] M100 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950626.html ] is causing quite a stir among astronomers. Many believe that the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950810.html ]'s recent distance measurement to this galaxy accurately calibrates the expansion rate [ http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/RGO/leaflets/cosmology/cosmology.html ] of the universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951108.html ]. Others believe this distance measurement is misleading. The universe's expansion rate is usually given as a quantity called "Hubble's constant [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/background-text/hnought.txt ]", a factor dividing well-measured recession velocity of a galaxy to give actual distance. Scientific debate [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate.html ] over the value of Hubble's constant [ http://www.mathsoft.com/astronomy/hubble.html ] has been ongoing since it was first measured by Edwin Hubble [ http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/Spacelink.Hot.Topics/Hubble.Space.Telescope/Edwin.Hubble/ ] in 1929. A real live debate involving the value of Hubble's constant titled "The Scale of the Universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate_1996.html ]" will occur in April 1996 in Washington, DC. |
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The Cepheids of M100
| Title |
The Cepheids of M100 |
| Explanation |
Can this blinking star tell us how fast the universe is expanding? Many astronomers also believe it may also tell us the age of the universe! The photographed "Cepheid variable [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/gif/M100CphB.txt ]" star in M100 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960109.html ] brightens and dims over the course of days as its atmosphere expands and contracts. A longer blinking cycle means an intrinsically brighter star. Cepheids variable stars are therefore used as distance indicators [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/background-text/cosmyard.txt ]. By noting exactly how long the blinking period is and exactly how bright the star appears to be, one can tell the distance to the star and hence the star's parent galaxy. This distance can then be used to match-up easily measured recessional velocity ("redshift") with distance. Once this "Hubble relation [ http://www.mathsoft.com/astronomy/hubble.html ]" is determined for M100 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950626.html ], it should be the same for all galaxies - and hence tell us how fast the universe is expanding [ http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/RGO/leaflets/cosmology/cosmology.html ]. The exact magnitude of this calibration is under dispute and so a real live debate involving the value of Hubble's constant [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/background-text/hnought.txt ] titled "The Scale of the Universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate_1996.html ]" will occur in April 1996 in Washington, DC. |
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M100: A Grand Design
| Title |
M100: A Grand Design |
| Explanation |
Majestic [ http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/pubserv/hos/stars/welcome.htm ] on a truly cosmic scale, M100 [ http://bozo.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/m/m100.html ] is appropriately known as a Grand Design spiral galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961030.html ]. A large galaxy of over 100 billion or so stars with well defined spiral arms [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960409.html ], it is similar to our own Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970315.html ]. One of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies [ http://bozo.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/more/virgo.html ] , M100 (alias NGC 4321) is 56 million light-years distant in the spring constellation of Coma Berenices [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ constellations/Coma_Berenices.html ]. This Hubble Space Telescope image [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/94/01.html ] of the central region of M100 was made in 1993 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. It reveals the bright blue star clusters [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980329.html ] and intricate winding dust lanes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980116.html ] which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies [ http://hermes.astro.washington.edu:80/scied/astro/hubble/hubble.html ]. Studies of stars in M100 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960110.html ] have recently played an important role in determining the size and age of the Universe. |
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A Nearby Supernova in Spiral
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| Title |
A Nearby Supernova in Spiral Galaxy M100 |
| Explanation |
One of the nearer supernovas of recent years was discovered last month in the bright nearby galaxy M100 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m100.html ]. The supernova, dubbed SN 2006X [ http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2006/sn2006x.html ], is still near its maximum brightness and visible with a telescope toward the constellation of Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices [ http://www.astronomical.org/portal/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=25 ]) The supernova, pictured above [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/phot-08-06.html ], has been identified as Type Ia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova#Type_Ia ] indicating that a white dwarf star [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000910.html ] in the picturesque spiral [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010203.html ] galaxy has gone near its Chandrasekhar limit [ http://physics.ship.edu/~mrc/pfs/108/node5.htm ] and exploded. Although hundreds of supernovas are now discovered each year by automated searches, nearby supernova [ http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/02/23/m100-before-and-after/ ] are rare and important because they frequently become bright enough to be studied by many telescopes and are near enough for their immediate surroundings to be spatially resolved. Supernova 2006X [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_2006X ]'s host galaxy M100 resides [ http://heasarc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/local_supercluster.html ] in the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000220.html ] located about 50 million light years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] from Earth. |
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