The VLT looks deep into a spiral galaxy

The photo is a combination of two 30 min exposures, obtained in succession with the VLT UT1. For both, the image quality is excellent (round images at 0.38 and 0.40 arcsec, respectively), despite the long exposure time. This once more demonstrates the ability of the telescope to track with very high precision over long time intervals, already at this early stage of commissioning.

This is a combination of two 30-min exposures through a 400 Å-wide optical filtre centered at 5100 Å (green; image quality 0.38 arcsec) and a 400 Å-wide optical filtre centered at 5300 Å (green; image quality 0.40 arcsec) with the VLT Test Camera. Individual frames were flat-fielded and cleaned for cosmics and then combined. The resulting FWHM is 0.39 arcsec. No further image processing was done. The field measures 1.5 x 1.5 arcmin. North is to the upper right; East is to the upper left.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso9826a
Type:Observation
Release date:23 June 1998
Related releases:eso9826
Size:2267 x 2500 px

About the Object

Name:M 83, Messier 83, NGC 5236, Southern Pinwheel Galaxy
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:15 million light years
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.1 MB
Screensize JPEG
296.9 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
248.5 KB
1280x1024
392.7 KB
1600x1200
524.7 KB
1920x1200
568.3 KB
2048x1536
753.2 KB

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
V
510 nmVery Large Telescope

Exposure time: 3600s