Hubble probes ghost galaxy

Esahubble_heic1211a_1024

esahubble_heic1211a July 10th, 2012

Credit: NASA, ESA, and T. Brown (STScI)

Astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to unmask the dim, star-starved dwarf galaxy Leo IV. This Hubble image demonstrates why astronomers had a tough time spotting this small-fry galaxy: it is practically invisible. The image shows how the handful of stars from the sparse galaxy are virtually indistinguishable from the background. Residing 500 000 light-years from Earth, Leo IV is one of more than a dozen ultra-faint dwarf galaxies found lurking around our Milky Way galaxy. These galaxies are dominated by dark matter, an invisible substance that makes up the bulk of the Universes mass.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1211a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Leo IV dwarf galaxy
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Size > Dwarf
Esahubble_heic1211a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 11h 32m 57.3s
DEC = 0° 30’ 58.2”
Orientation
North is 24.0° CW
Field of View
3.3 x 3.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Leo

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Orange Hubble (ACS) Optical (i) 814.0 nm
Blue Hubble (ACS) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Orange
Blue
Esahubble_heic1211a_1280
×
ID
heic1211a
Subject Category
C.5.2.2  
Subject Name
Leo IV dwarf galaxy
Credits
NASA, ESA, and T. Brown (STScI)
Release Date
2012-07-10T19:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1211a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
ACS, ACS
Color Assignment
Orange, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical
Bandpass
i, V
Central Wavelength
814, 606
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
173.238800873, -0.51616809907
Reference Dimension
6515.0, 6615.0
Reference Pixel
3338.2464892, 3359.32513654
Scale
-8.33428e-06, 8.33428e-06
Rotation
-23.991
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
heic1211a
Metadata Date
2019-10-07T11:40:34.380234
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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