An infrared portrait of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 83

The image is a false-colour infrared photo of the nearby barred spiral galaxy Messier 83. It is based on the combination of three images obtained in the Ks- (wavelength 2.2 µm), J- (1.2 µm) and I-bands (0.8 µm), respectively. The first two were recorded with the SOFI instrument at the ESO 3.5-m New Technology Telescope , the third with the DFOSC instrument at the Danish 1.54-m telescope, both at the La Silla Observatory.

Technical information: This image of Messier 83 is based on a composite of three images in the filters Ks (NTT + SOFI ; wavelength 2.162 µm; Full-Width-Half-Maximum (FWHM) 0.275 µm; total exposure time on target 49 min; approx. 12 min per quadrant; here rendered as red); J (NTT + SOFI; 1.247 µm; 0.290 µm; 22 min; 5 min; green), and I (Danish 1.54-m + DFOSC ; 0.797 µm; 0.142 µm; 20 min; full-field coverage; blue). As indicated, the Ks and J images were created from exposures of four neighbouring fields. These images were taken in May 2001 during a period with 1.0 arcsec average seeing. The original frames have 1024 x 1024 pixels, each measuring 0.29 arcsec. The resulting mosaic was created from 31 Ks-band object frames and 17 J-band object frames, each with 100 sec exposure time. From each object frame, a sky frame with the same exposure time was subtracted to remove the sky contribution. The final size of the mosaic image is 1905 x 1839 pixels (9.2 x 8.9 arcmin). The I image was observed in February 1998 by Søren Larsen (more information about this image is available in "Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement", Vol 139, p.393-415, 1999 and at URL: http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/). The original frame size was 2036 x 2042 pixels, each measuring 0.39 arcsec. The pixel size and the field-of-view of this image was changed to match the characteristics of the Ks and J images. North is up and east to the left.

Crediti:

ESO

Riguardo l'immagine

Identificazione:eso0136a
Tipo:Osservazione
Data di rilascio:29 Novembre 2001
Notizie relative:eso0136
Grandezza:2271 x 2203 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:M 83, Messier 83, NGC 5236
Tipo:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Barred
Distanza:15 Milione Anni luce
Constellation:Hydra
Categoria:Galaxies

Formati delle immagini

JPEG grande
4,6 MB

Sfondi

1024x768
582,7 KB
1280x1024
1,0 MB
1600x1200
1,6 MB
1920x1200
2,0 MB
2048x1536
2,7 MB

Coordinate

Position (RA):13 37 0.96
Position (Dec):-29° 51' 56.15"
Field of view:9.02 x 8.75 arcminutes
Orientazione:Il Nord è a 0.1° a sinistra della verticale

Colori e filtri

BandaLunghezza d'ondaTelescopio
Infrarosso
I
800 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Infrarosso
J
1.2 μmNew Technology Telescope
SOFI
Infrarosso
K
2.2 μmNew Technology Telescope
SOFI