Explosive tendencies
Don’t be fooled! The subject of this Picture of the Week, ESO 580-49, may seem tranquil and unassuming, but this spiral galaxy actually displays some explosive tendencies.
In October of 2011, a cataclysmic burst of high-energy gamma-ray radiation — known as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB — was detected coming from the region of sky containing ESO 580-49. Astronomers believe that the galaxy was the host of the GRB, given that the chance of a coincidental alignment between the two is roughly 1 in 10 million. At a distance of around 185 million light-years from Earth, it was the second-closest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected.
Gamma-ray bursts are among the brightest events in the cosmos, occasionally outshining the combined gamma-ray output of the entire observable Universe for a few seconds. The exact cause of the GRB that probably occurred within this galaxy, catalogued as GRB 111005A, remains a mystery. Several events are known to lead to GRBs, but none of these explanations appear to fit the bill in this case. Astronomers have therefore suggested that ESO 580-49 hosted a new type of GRB explosion — one that has not yet been characterised.
Credit:ESA/Hubble & NASA
About the Image
Id: | potw1749a |
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Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 4 December 2017, 06:00 |
Size: | 3221 x 2251 px |
About the Object
Name: | ESO 580-49 |
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Type: | Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
Distance: | 190 million light years |
Constellation: | Libra |
Category: | Galaxies |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 14 53 7.94 |
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Position (Dec): | -19° 44' 10.70" |
Field of view: | 2.13 x 1.49 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 8.0° left of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical B | 438 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical V | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical B | 438 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Infrared H | 1.6 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical V | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |