Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB), Ruben Barbosa

M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB), Ruben Barbosa

M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB)

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

* Image acquisition: Andrei Ioda (RGB), NASA/ESA/HLA (Luminance, layer build with F814W filter).

* Assembly and processing: Ruben Barbosa.



* Distance: 35 Mly.

M96 (also known as NGC 3368) is a spiral galaxy located about 35 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo.

This object is extremely difficult to find with binoculars; With a 25.4 cm (10 inch) aperture telescope, the galaxy is visible as a halo with the brightest central region.

The galaxy resembles a gigantic whirlwind of glowing, dark-toned gas that turns toward the core and contains about the same mass and size as the Milky Way.

The main features are:

• The nucleus, where a supermassive black hole resides, exhibits a weak activity level and does not occupy the central part of the galaxy and

• The arms contain gas and dust unevenly spread across the disc, and also exhibit asymmetries.

Astronomers believe that these features are related to gravitational interactions of other galaxies in the same group (about 50).

Comments

Revisions

  • M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB), Ruben Barbosa
    Original
  • Final
    M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB), Ruben Barbosa
    B

Histogram

M96 (HLA and HLA+RGB), Ruben Barbosa

In these public groups

Hubble Legacy Archive

In these collections

2. Galaxies