These three pictures show a section of the digitized all sky-survey at different compression factors. The images will be written into CDROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory) format and will be available to professional and amateur astronomers. The sample image is of a 11.3 arc minute square region of the Hydra cluster of galaxies (Abell 1060), show in the spiral galaxy NGC 3312, and the elliptical galaxies NGC 3312 (right) and NGC 3309 (left).
The top image was digitized from a SRC southern sky survey plate. The image 400 pixels picture elements on a side. The center picture has been compressed by a ratio of 10:1 and is useful for a wide range of astronomical research applications.
The bottom picture shows the data at a compression ratio of 100:1. Though the image is somewhat coarser it is still useful for producing astronomical finding charts. Note also that the morphology of the bright galaxies is still distinguishable. At this high compression, the entire sky survey will fit onto only ten CDROMS.
Credits
Image
STScI
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Abell 1060, NGC 3312, NGC 3309 |
| R.A. Position | 10h 36m 51.3s |
| Dec. Position | -27° 31' 35.0" |
| 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. |
