The central part of Messier 12
Centre of the globular cluster Messier 12 as observed with the FORS-1 multi-mode instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (Cerro Paranal, Chile). The picture covers a region of about 3.5 arcmin on a side, corresponding to about 23 light-years at the distance of Messier 12. It is based on data in five different filters : U, B, V, R and H-alpha. Here only the short exposures were used while for their scientific analysis, the authors used much longer exposures. Guido De Marchi (ESA) reduced the data and Kristina Boneva and Haennes Heyer (ESO) did the final image processing. The observations were obtained with very good conditions, the image quality ('seeing') being around 0.6 arcsec.
Credit:ESO
About the Image
| Id: | eso0604a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 7 February 2006 |
| Related releases: | eso0604 |
| Size: | 3060 x 3056 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Messier 12 |
| Type: | Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open |
| Distance: | 23000 light years |
| Constellation: | Ophiuchus |
| Category: | Star Clusters |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 16 47 14.25 |
| Position (Dec): | -1° 56' 48.17" |
| Field of view: | 3.39 x 3.39 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 0.0° left of vertical |
View in WorldWide Telescope:
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical H-alpha | 656 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
| Optical R | 600 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
| Optical V | 554 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
| Optical B | 420 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
| Ultraviolet U | 360 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |