Astronomers Use Image to Measure Star's Mass

 Astronomers Use Image to Measure Star's Mass

Credits

NASA, ESA and D. Bennett (University of Notre Dame)

About The Object
Object Name MACHO-LMC-5, STAR-0516-7029
Object Description Stellar Binary System/Microlensing Object
R.A. Position 05h 16m 40.99s
Dec. Position -70° 29' 17.99"
Constellation Dorado
Distance The distance to the lensing object is 1,800 light-years (550pc). The distance to the object being lensed is that of the LMC: 160,000 light-years (50 kiloparsecs).
About The Data
Data Description This image was created from HST observations from proposal : K. Cook, A. Drake, and S. Keller (Lawrence Livermore National Lab), and C. Nelson (UC Berkeley). The science team for this image release includes A. Gould (OSU), D. Bennett (U. Notre Dame) and D. Alves (Columbia U).
Instrument HST>ACS/WFC
Exposure Dates July 10-11, 2002 and January 5, 2003, Exposure Time: 2 days
Filters F606W (V) and F814W (I)
About The Image
Compass Image Astronomers Use Image to Measure Star's Mass
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.