M61的特写影像

2019 August 28

Messier 61 Close Up
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO, Amateur Data; Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari

Explanation: Image data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the European Southern Observatory, and small telescopes on planet Earth are combined in this magnificent portrait of face-on spiral galaxy Messier 61 (M61). A mere 55 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, M61 is also known as NGC 4303. It’s considered to be an example of a barred spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way. Like other spiral galaxies, M61 also features sweeping spiral arms, cosmic dust lanes, pinkish star forming regions, and young blue star clusters. The bright galactic core is offset to the left in this 50 thousand light-year wide close-up.

M61的特写影像
影像来源: NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO, Amateur Data; 数据处理及版权: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari

说明：这幅正向旋涡星系M61的壮丽影像是由来自欧洲南方天文台的哈勃太空望远镜和地面小型望远镜的影像数据结合而成。M61也被称为NGC 4303，位于室女座星系团内，距离我们仅5500万光年远。它被认为是类似于我们银河系的棒旋星系的一个例子。与其他旋涡星系一样，M61也具有巨大的旋臂、宇宙尘埃带、粉色的恒星形成区和年轻的蓝色星团。在这幅宽度为5万光年的特写影像中，明亮的星系核则向左侧偏移。