Sail of Stars
The spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 3318 are lazily draped across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy lies in the constellation Vela and is roughly 115 million light-years away from Earth. Vela was originally part of a far larger constellation, known as Argo Navis after the fabled ship Argo from Greek mythology, but this unwieldy constellation proved to be impractically large. Argo Navis was split into three separate parts called Carina, Puppis, and Vela — each named after part of the Argo. As befits a galaxy in a nautically inspired constellation, the outer edges of NGC 3318 almost resemble a ship’s sails billowing in a gentle breeze.
Credit:ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, R. J. Foley
Acknowledgement: R. Colombari
About the Image
Id: | potw2203a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 17 January 2022, 06:00 |
Size: | 3839 x 2628 px |
About the Object
Wallpapers
1024x768
208.8 KB
1280x1024
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1600x1200
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1920x1200
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2048x1536
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Coordinates
Position (RA): | 10 37 16.23 |
Position (Dec): | -41° 37' 39.10" |
Field of view: | 2.54 x 1.74 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 0.0° left of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical V | 555 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical V | 555 nm |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
MUSE |
Optical i | 785 nm |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
MUSE |
Optical I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical V | 555 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Optical V | 555 nm |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
MUSE |
Optical i | 785 nm |
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
MUSE |
Optical I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |