Planetary Nebulae in and around Messier 87

Location of the planetary nebulae in the outskirts of the giant galaxy Messier 87 and in the intergalactic space around the centre of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. By measuring the motions of these objects very precisely, using the highly efficient FLAMES spectrograph on the ESO Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory (Chile), astronomers have probed the edge of Messier 87 for the first time, and found it to be about three times as large as our own Milky Way.

Credit:

ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2

Over de afbeelding

Id:eso0919b
Type:Collage
Publicatiedatum:20 mei 2009
Gerelateerde berichten:eso0919
Grootte:1752 x 1520 px

Over het object

Naam:Messier 87, Virgo Cluster
Type:Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Planetary
Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Local Universe : Galaxy : Size : Giant
Local Universe : Galaxy : Grouping : Cluster
Afstand:60 miljoen lichtjaren
Categorie:Nebulae

Afbeeldingstypen

Grote JPEG
602,3 KB

Kleuren & filters

BandTelescoop
Optisch
B
Digitized Sky Survey 2
Infrarood
I
Digitized Sky Survey 2