Messier 100 — grand design splendour

Spiral galaxies are usually very aesthetically appealing objects, and never more so than when they appear face-on. And this image is a particularly splendid example: it is the grand design spiral galaxy Messier 100, located in the southern part of the constellation of Coma Berenices, and lying about 55 million light-years from Earth.

While Messier 100 shows very well defined spiral arms, it also displays the faintest of bar-like structures in the centre, which classifies this as type SAB. Although it is not easily spotted in the image, scientists have been able to confirm the bar’s existence by observing it in other wavelengths.

This very detailed image shows the main features expected in a galaxy of this type: huge clouds of hydrogen gas, glowing in red patches when they re-emit the energy absorbed from newly born, massive stars; the uniform brightness of older, yellowish stars near the centre; and black shreds of dust weaving through the arms of the galaxy.

Messier 100 is one of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster, which is the closest cluster of galaxies to our galaxy, the Milky Way, containing over 2000 galaxies, including spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars. This picture is a combination of images from the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile, taken with red (R), green (V) and blue (B) filters.

Links

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:potw1330a
Type:Observation
Release date:29 July 2013, 10:00
Size:1257 x 943 px

About the Object

Name:M 100, Messier 100
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:55 million light years
Constellation:Coma Berenices
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
532.8 KB
Screensize JPEG
224.4 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
343.2 KB
1280x1024
484.3 KB
1600x1200
668.1 KB
1920x1200
745.8 KB
2048x1536
1009.9 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):12 22 54.92
Position (Dec):15° 49' 20.11"
Field of view:5.26 x 3.94 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
Optical
B
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Optical
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Optical
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS1