Image of a MACHO

This image is based on three exposures from the WFPC2 camera at the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained in the V-, R- and I-bands (shown as blue, green and red, respectively). It shows the first image of a Dark Matter object — a MACHO (a massive compact object). It is the red object that is indicated with an arrow and very near to the upper left (at 2 o''clock) of a blue background star. This MACHO is a nearby red dwarf star that gravitationally focused light from the blue background star in another galaxy in a so-called microlensing event. Since the event six years ago, the MACHO has moved 0.134 arcseconds on the sky and can now be clearly separated in the Hubble image.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0140a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:5 décembre 2001
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0140
Taille:793 x 637 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:MACHO
Type:Milky Way : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Dark Matter
Milky Way : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing
Catégorie:Cosmology

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
37,7 Kio

Fonds d'écran

1024x768
42,0 Kio
1280x1024
58,3 Kio
1600x1200
70,1 Kio
1920x1200
79,1 Kio
2048x1536
96,5 Kio

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
Visible
B
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2
Visible
V
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2
Infrarouge
I
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2