Working with astronomical image processors at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., renowned astrophotographer Robert Gendler has taken science data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive and combined it with his own ground-based observations to assemble a photo illustration of the magnificent spiral galaxy M106.
Gendler retrieved archival Hubble images of M106 to assemble a mosaic of the center of the galaxy. He then used his own and fellow astrophotographer Jay GaBany's observations of M106 to combine with the Hubble data in areas where there was less coverage, and finally, to fill in the holes and gaps where no Hubble data existed.
The center of the galaxy is composed almost entirely of HST data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys, Wide Field Camera 3, and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 detectors. The outer spiral arms are predominantly HST data colorized with ground-based data taken by Gendler's and GaBany's 12.5-inch and 20-inch telescopes, located at very dark remote sites in New Mexico. The image also reveals the optical component of the "anomalous arms" of M106, seen here as red, glowing hydrogen emission.
Robert Gendler is a physician by profession but has been active in astrophotography for two decades. Robert started taking astro-images from his driveway in suburban Connecticut. He then spent several years imaging remotely from places like New Mexico and Western Australia. More recently, Robert has been spending his time assembling hybrid images from multiple data sources including the Hubble Legacy Archive. Many of these images have been featured on "Astronomy Picture of the Day" (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html) and in various books and magazines.
This portrait of M106 contains only the inner structure around the halo and nucleus of this Seyfert II active galaxy. Large amounts of gas from the galaxy are thought to be falling into and fueling a supermassive black hole contained in the nucleus. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 lies 23.5 million light-years away, in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Credits
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team);Acknowledgment: J. GaBany
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | M106, NGC 4258 |
| Object Description | Spiral galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 12h 18m 57.49s |
| Dec. Position | 47° 18' 14.29" |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
| Distance | 23.5 million light-years (7,000,000 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Note: Ground-based image data provided by R. Gendler and J. GaBany was used to fill in or supplement areas where HST data did not exist or was limited. The image was created from Hubble data from proposal : A. Riess (STScI) and collaborators. Other ACS and WFPC2 datasets from various other proposals were used to augment this proposal's data. |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC, HST>WFPC2, HST>WFC3/UVIS and Ground-based |
| Filters | ACS/WFC: F435W (G), F555W (V), F606W (V), and F814W (I) WFPC2: F656N (H-alpha) WFC3/UVIS: F555W (V) and F814W (I) ACS/WFC: F814W (I) Ground-based: 656nm (H-alpha) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by various Hubble instruments and ground-based telescopes. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths/frequencies. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: ACS/WFC F435W (G) Green: WFC3/UVIS F555W (V) + ACS/WFC F555W (V) + ACS/WFC F606W (V) Red: Ground-based 656nm (H-alpha) + WFPC2 F656N (H-alpha) + ACS/WFC F814W (I) + WFC3/UVIS F814W (I) Luminosity: ACS/WFC F814W (I) |
| Compass Image |  |
| 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 |
|
| 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. |
