Latest news with #SculptorGalaxy
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers capture the most intricate picture of a galaxy in a thousand colors ever seen
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers have obtained a stunning new image of the Sculptor Galaxy, painted in thousands of colors that reveals the intricacies of galactic systems. The incredible image of the galaxy — located around 11 million light-years away and also known as NGC 253 — was collected with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. In addition to providing a galaxy-wide view of the Sculptor Galaxy, the image shows intricate details of NGC 253. As such, it could help to reveal the finer details of the poorly understood and complex systems that are galaxies. "The Sculptor Galaxy is in a sweet spot," team leader Enrico Congiu of the Universidad de Chile said in a statement." It is close enough that we can resolve its internal structure and study its building blocks with incredible detail, but at the same time, big enough that we can still see it as a whole system." Covering 65,000 light-years of the 90,000-light-year-wide galaxy, zooming in on the finer details of the Sculptor Galaxy to create this image required 100 exposures collected over 50 hours of MUSE observing time. That effort was justified by the unprecedented detail revealed in the Sculptor Galaxy VLT image. Related: James Webb telescope unveils largest-ever map of the universe, spanning over 13 billion years "We can zoom in to study individual regions where stars form at nearly the scale of individual stars, but we can also zoom out to study the galaxy as a whole," said team member Kathryn Kreckel, from Heidelberg University in Germany. An initial examination of the image has already paid dividends for the team. Within the image, they have been able to discover 500 new planetary nebulae, shells of gas and dust that are ejected from stars like the sun after they "die" and enter a "puffed out" red giant phase. This is pretty extraordinary, because detections like this beyond the Milky Way and its immediate neighbors are fairly rare. "Beyond our galactic neighborhood, we usually deal with fewer than 100 detections per galaxy," said team member and Heidelberg University researcher Fabian Scheuermann. RELATED STORIES —Mars cozies up to one of the brightest stars in the sky in 'mind-blowing' conjunction photo —A 'new star' has exploded into the night sky — and you can see it from North America —Mysterious deep-space radio signals reveal location of the universe's 'missing matter' The planetary nebulae — which, despite the name, have nothing to do with planets — could bear fruit in the future, as they can be used by astronomers to make distance measurements. "Finding the planetary nebulae allows us to verify the distance to the galaxy — a critical piece of information on which the rest of the studies of the galaxy depend," explained team member and Ohio State University researcher Adam Leroy. That's not to say that the team is finished with this image of the Sculptor Galaxy just yet. The next step for the astronomers will be to explore how hot gas flows through NGC 253, changing composition and helping to create new stars. "How such small processes can have such a big impact on a galaxy whose entire size is thousands of times bigger is still a mystery," Congiu concluded. The team's research was published online June 18 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. This article was originally published on
Indian Express
21-06-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Zooming into the stars: Most vivid image of the Sculptor Galaxy revealed
The space is vast and empty, but it is also full of wonderful objects and colourful celestial bodies that look unreal. For years, astronomers have been capturing stunning images of galaxies around us, and now they have clicked one of the most detailed and colourful pictures of a galaxy. Located around 11 million light years away from Earth, the Sculptor galaxy, also known as NGC 253, has a similar shape, size and mass to that of our very own Milky Way. Enrico Congiu, a researcher at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) who led a new Astronomy & Astrophysics study on Sculptor, said that the galaxy 'is close enough that we can resolve its internal structure and study its building blocks with incredible detail, but at the same time, big enough that we can still see it as a whole system.' To generate this detailed map of the Sculptor Galaxy, researchers said they observed it for more than 50 hours using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. They then stitched together more than 100 exposures to cover an area that spans 65,000 light years wide. A galaxy's building blocks, which consist of stars, gas and dust, emit light in different colours. And while normal images of a galaxy only contain a handful of colours, the new ultra-detailed picture of the Sculptor galaxy has thousands of colours. ESO says that this 'tells astronomers everything they need to know about the stars, gas and dust within, such as their age, composition and motion.' Researchers say the image is so detailed that astronomers can zoom into it to study 'individual regions where stars form at nearly the scale of individual stars, but we can also zoom out to study the galaxy as a whole.' As it turns out, the detailed image of the Sculptor galaxy has already helped astronomers spot 500 new planetary nebulae and observe shells of gas and dust that are emitted by stars after they die and are on the verge of becoming a red giant. These planetary nebulae can help us verify the distance to the Galaxy, which is an important piece of information on which the rest of the studies of the galaxy depend. Astronomers say they will now use the detailed map of the Sculptor galaxy to see how gas flows and changes its composition to form stars. The Sculptor galaxy has already been observed several times, with one of the most detailed observations recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope back in 1998. Like our neighbouring Andromeda galaxy, it is super bright and huge and can be easily spotted using binoculars in ideal conditions.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Super cool picture of Sculptor galaxy revealed
Scientists have taken one of the most detailed pictures ever of a galaxy named Sculptor, and its pretty spent 50 hours using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO's) Very Large Telescope in Chile to map out the galaxy. The telescope, which is very powerful, is able to see much more than our eyes can, and the image shows thousands of colours. As well as being pretty amazing to look at, the new colourful image will help scientists gain new insights into the galaxy and space. Sculptor is a galaxy similar in some ways to our own - the Milky Way. It is considered to be something called a starburst galaxy, which means it has a lot of stellar action. As it is located 11 million light years away, it is considered to be not too close and not too far, meaning it is perfect for a great picture!The picture that scientists have taken is full of stars, glowing clouds and even even tiny objects called planetary nebulae. Why is this photo so special? The detailed photo means that scientists will be able to study this galaxy in detail. They hope it will help them understand how our own galaxy works. One of the astronomers involved is Enrico Congiu. They said: "I personally find these images amazing,""What amazes me the most is that every time I look at them, I notice something new - another nebula, a splash of unexpected colour or some subtle structure that hints at the incredible physics behind it all."
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers Unveil Stunning Photo of Spiral Galaxy
No matter how many times we see photos of different galaxies in outer space, they never cease to amaze. On Wednesday, astronomers in Chile revealed a glimpse at Sculptor, a spiral galaxy that is 11 million light-years away. The massive galaxy stretches a span of about 65,000 light-years. According to Marcia Dunn of the Associated Press, scientists used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope to capture the stunning image. The galaxy, which is officially named NGC 253, was observed for around 50 hours and 100 exposures were put together to create the picture. 'The Sculptor galaxy is in a sweet spot,' leading researcher Enrico Congiu said. 'It is close enough that we can resolve its internal structure and study its building blocks with incredible detail, but at the same time, big enough that we can still see it as a whole system.' Scientists also revealed that Sculptor, which is considered a starburst galaxy, contains thousands of different colors. According to NASA, starburst galaxies see star formation "at a tremendous rate," and that leads to an accelerated use of the gas in the galaxy. Many hot blue stars with short lifespans are created as a result of this process. There are believed to be two different causes for these starburst galaxies, including "gravitational interactions with other galaxies" and "when gas is packed into a small region." Astronomers Unveil Stunning Photo of Spiral Galaxy first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 18, 2025
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers capture the most intricate picture of a galaxy in a thousand colors ever seen (photo, video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers have obtained a stunning new image of the Sculptor Galaxy, painted in thousands of colors that reveals the intricacies of galactic systems. The incredible image of the galaxy — located around 11 million light-years away and also known as NGC 253 — was collected with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. In addition to providing a galaxy-wide view of the Sculptor Galaxy, the image shows intricate details of NGC 253. As such, it could help to reveal the finer details of the poorly understood and complex systems that are galaxies. "The Sculptor Galaxy is in a sweet spot," team leader Enrico Congiu of the Universidad de Chile said in a statement." It is close enough that we can resolve its internal structure and study its building blocks with incredible detail, but at the same time, big enough that we can still see it as a whole system." Covering 65,000 light-years of the 90,000-light-year-wide galaxy, zooming in on the finer details of the Sculptor Galaxy to create this image required 100 exposures collected over 50 hours of MUSE observing time. That effort was justified by the unprecedented detail revealed in the Sculptor Galaxy VLT image. "We can zoom in to study individual regions where stars form at nearly the scale of individual stars, but we can also zoom out to study the galaxy as a whole," said team member Kathryn Kreckel, from Heidelberg University in Germany. An initial examination of the image has already paid dividends for the team. Within the image, they have been able to discover 500 new planetary nebulae, shells of gas and dust that are ejected from stars like the sun after they "die" and enter a "puffed out" red giant phase. This is pretty extraordinary, because detections like this beyond the Milky Way and its immediate neighbors are fairly rare. "Beyond our galactic neighborhood, we usually deal with fewer than 100 detections per galaxy," said team member and Heidelberg University researcher Fabian Scheuermann. Related Stories: — Very Large Telescope: Everything you need to know — What is a galaxy? — The greatest astronomical discoveries of the past 25 years The planetary nebulae — which, despite the name, have nothing to do with planets — could bear fruit in the future, as they can be used by astronomers to make distance measurements. "Finding the planetary nebulae allows us to verify the distance to the galaxy — a critical piece of information on which the rest of the studies of the galaxy depend," explained team member and Ohio State University researcher Adam Leroy. That's not to say that the team is finished with this image of the Sculptor Galaxy just yet. The next step for the astronomers will be to explore how hot gas flows through NGC 253, changing composition and helping to create new stars. "How such small processes can have such a big impact on a galaxy whose entire size is thousands of times bigger is still a mystery," Congiu concluded. The team's research was published online today (June 18) in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
