HAWK-I image of NGC 5247

This image shows NGC 5247, a grand design barred spiral galaxy, located 60–70 million light-years away. The galaxy lies face-on towards Earth, thus providing an excellent view of its pinwheel structure and multiple arms. It is in the zodiacal constellation of Virgo (the Maiden).

The image was made in infrared light with the HAWK-I camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile. HAWK-I is one of the most powerful infrared imagers in the world, and this is one of the sharpest and most detailed pictures of this galaxy ever taken from Earth. The filters used were Y (shown here in blue), J (in light blue), H (in green), and K (in red). The field of view of the image is about 6.4 arcminutes.

Credit:

ESO/P. Grosbøl

About the Image

Id:eso1042b
Type:Observation
Release date:27 October 2010, 12:00
Related releases:eso1042
Size:3625 x 3609 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 5247
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:70 million light years
Constellation:Virgo
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
4.5 MB
Screensize JPEG
196.0 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
202.3 KB
1280x1024
332.3 KB
1600x1200
514.4 KB
1920x1200
683.0 KB
2048x1536
911.4 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):13 38 3.01
Position (Dec):-17° 53' 1.98"
Field of view:6.45 x 6.42 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical