HAWK-I image of NGC 4030

This spiral galaxy, NGC 4030, lies about 75 million light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Virgo. In 2007 Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut who doubles as an amateur astronomer, spotted a supernova — a stellar explosion that is briefly almost as bright as its host galaxy — going off in this galaxy.

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 green), H (in orange), and K (in red). The field of view of the image is about 6.4 arcminutes across.

Credit:

ESO/P. Grosbøl

About the Image

Id:eso1042e
Type:Observation
Release date:27 October 2010, 12:00
Related releases:eso1042
Size:3654 x 3643 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 4030
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:75 million light years
Constellation:Virgo
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEG
5.1 MB
Screensize JPEG
127.2 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
132.4 KB
1280x1024
221.1 KB
1600x1200
354.7 KB
1920x1200
491.5 KB
2048x1536
683.4 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):12 0 23.69
Position (Dec):-1° 5' 59.13"
Field of view:6.48 x 6.46 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.2° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Infrared
Y
1.02 μmVery Large Telescope
HAWK-I
Infrared
J
1.22 μmVery Large Telescope
HAWK-I
Infrared
H
1.63 μmVery Large Telescope
HAWK-I