A Classic Beauty

Chandra_380_1024

chandra_380 December 10th, 2007

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Wesleyan Univ./R.Kilgard et al; UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith & Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Univ. of AZ/R. Kennicutz

A composite image of M51, also known as the

Whirlpool Galaxy, shows a majestic spiral galaxy.

Chandra finds point-like X-ray sources (purple)

that are black holes and neutron stars in binary

star systems, along with a diffuse glow of hot

gas. Data from Hubble (green) and Spitzer (red)

both highlight long lanes of stars and gas laced

with dust. A view of M51 with GALEX shows

hot, young stars that produce lots of ultraviolet

energy (blue).

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/m51/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Whirlpool Galaxy M51
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Galaxy > Component > Spiral Arm
Galaxy > Grouping > Pair

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
37,000,000 light years
Chandra_380_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 29m 52.4s
DEC = 47° 12’ 48.5”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
6.4 x 9.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Canes Venatici

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Green Hubble (ACS) Optical (V-band) 550.0 nm
Blue GALEX (FUV) Untraviolet (Far-UV) 150.0 nm
Purple Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Purple
Chandra_380_1280
×
ID
380
Subject Category
C.5.1.1   C.5.1.7   C.5.4.7   C.5.5.1  
Subject Name
Whirlpool Galaxy, M51
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Wesleyan Univ./R.Kilgard et al; UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith & Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Univ. of AZ/R. Kennicutz
Release Date
2007-12-10
Lightyears
37,000,000
Redshift
0.0020
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/m51/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Hubble, GALEX, Chandra
Instrument
IRAC, ACS, FUV, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue, Purple
Band
Infrared, Optical, Untraviolet, X-ray
Bandpass
Mid-IR, V-band, Far-UV, X-ray
Central Wavelength
8000, 550, 150, 0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
202.4682856, 47.2134616
Reference Dimension
2384.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1193.0, 1801.0
Scale
4.44411e-05, 4.4441128e-05
Rotation
-0.03
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
m51.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/m51/m51.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2015-02-12T12:48:09-05:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
37,000,000 light years

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