Nota de prensa
Una galaxia espiral en Leo
10 de Agosto de 2011
Esta nueva fotografía del Very Large Telescope de ESO muestra a NGC 3521, una galaxia espiral ubicada a unos 35 millones de años-luz en la constelación de Leo (El León). Abarcando unos 50.000 años-luz, este espectacular objeto tiene un núcleo brillante y compacto, rodeado de una estructura espiral lujosamente detallada.
Las características más distintivas de la galaxia brillante NGC 3521 son sus largos brazos de espiral que está marcados con regiones de formación estelar e intercalada con venas de polvo. Los brazos son más bien irregulares y fragmentados, haciendo de NGC 3521 un típico ejemplo de una galaxia espiral lanosa. Estas galaxias tienen brazos espirales “esponjosos” que contrastan con los brazos arrastrados de las espirales de gran diseño como las famosas galaxias Whirpool o M 51, descubiertas por Charles Messier.
NGC 3521 es brillante y relativamente cercana, y puede ser vista fácilmente con un telescopio pequeño como el que usó Messier para catalogar una serie de objetos brumosos y tipo cometas en el siglo dieciocho. Extrañamente, el astrónomo francés parece no haber dado con este lanoso espiral aún cuando identificó varias otras galaxias de similar luminosidad en la constelación de Leo.
Fue sólo en el año en que Messier publicó la versión final de su catálogo, en 1784, que otro famoso astrónomo, William Herschel, descubrió la NGC 3521 prematuramente en sus búsquedas más detalladas de los cielos del norte. A través de su telescopio más grande de 47 centímetros de apertura, Herschel vio una “centro brillante rodeado de nebulosidad”, de acuerdo a sus notas de observación.
En esta nueva fotografía del VLT, los coloridos aunque mal definidos brazos de espiral remplazan la “nebulosidad” de Herschel. Estrellas más antiguas dominan el área rojiza en el centro mientras que estrellas azules calientes impregnan los brazos más allá del centro.
Oleg Maliy, quien participó en la versión 2010 de la competencia Hidden Treasures de ESO (Tesoros Escondidos)[1], seleccionó la información del instrumento FORS1 en el VLT de ESO en el Observatorio Paranal en Chile que fue usada para crear esta espectacular imagen. Las exposiciones tomadas a través de tres filtros diferentes que pasaron luz azul (de color azul), luz amarilla-verde (de color verde) y luz cercana infrarroja (de color rojo) se han combinado para hacer esta fotografía. El tiempo de exposición total fue de 300 segundos por filtro. La imagen de Oleg de NGC 3521 fue una entrada altamente votada en la competición, lo que atrajo casi 100 entradas.
Notas
[1] La competición Hidden Treasures 2010 de ESO dio a los astrónomos amateurs la posibilidad de investigar los amplios archivos de información astronómica de ESO, con la esperanza de encontrar una gema bien escondida que necesitara ser pulida por los candidatos. Para averiguar más sobre Hidden Treasures 2010, visita: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/hiddentreasures/
Contactos
Richard Hook
ESO, La Silla, Paranal, E-ELT and Survey Telescopes Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Teléfono: +49 89 3200 6655
Correo electrónico: rhook@eso.org
Francisco Rodríguez (Contacto para medios de comunicación en Chile)
Red de Difusión Científica de ESO
y European Southern Observatory
Teléfono: +56-2-463-3151
Correo electrónico: eson-chile@eso.org
Acerca de la nota de prensa
| Nota de prensa No.: | eso1129es-cl |
| Nombre: | NGC 3521 |
| Tipo: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
| Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
| Instruments: | FORS1 |
Imágenes
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