Holiday wishes from the Hubble Space Telescope
In the new Hubble image of the galaxy M74 we can also see a smattering of bright pink regions decorating the spiral arms. These are huge, relatively short-lived, clouds of hydrogen gas which glow due to the strong radiation from hot, young stars embedded within them; glowing pink regions of ionized hydrogen (hydrogen that has lost its electrons). These regions of star formation show an excess of light at ultraviolet wavelengths and astronomers call them HII regions.
Credit:About the Image
NASA press release
| Id: | heic0719a |
|---|---|
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 29 November 2007, 15:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0719 |
| Size: | 4014 x 3865 px |
About the Object
| Name: | M74, Phantom Galaxy |
|---|---|
| Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
| Distance: | 25 million light years |
| Constellation: | Pisces |
| Category: | Galaxies |
Image Formats
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 1 36 39.77 |
|---|---|
| Position (Dec): | 15° 46' 33.78" |
| Field of view: | 3.34 x 3.22 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 23.3° left of vertical |
View in ESASky:
View in WorldWide Telescope:
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical B | 435 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical V | 555 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical H-alpha + Nii | 656 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |