The Needle Galaxy, picture of March of the Observatori Astronòmic del Montsec
2017-04-04 00:00:00
Each month the Observatori Astronòmic del Montsec (OAdM) of IEEC publishes an outstanding image from the observations made there. In March, the protagonist is the Needle Galaxy.
març 2017
The disc of the galaxy NGC 4565, seen nearly edge-on from Earth’s position, recalls a long sewing needle. The image also reveals the central bulge of this spiral galaxy dominated by an old population of stars that gives a yellow coloration. Traces of cosmic dust appear as a dark band that divides the profile of the disc. The Needle Galaxy is located at a distance of about 30 million light years away toward the constellation Coma Berenices.
The image was captured with the Hubble Joan Oró of the Montsec Astronomical Observatory, using various filters broadband and a total of two and a half hours of exposure time.