First image and spectrum of a Dark Matter object [heic0116]
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is based on three exposures from the WFPC2 camera at the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained in the V-, R- and I-bands, (shown as blue, green and red respectively). It shows the first image of a Dark Matter object - a MACHO (a massive compact object). It is the red object that is indicated with an arrow. This MACHO is a nearby red dwarf star that gravitationally focused light from a blue background star in another galaxy in a so-called microlensing event. Since the event six years ago, the MACHO has moved 0.134 arc-seconds on the sky and can now be clearly separated from the blue star in the Hubble image.
Credit:European Space Agency, European Southern Observatory and the MACHO project team
About the Image
Id: | heic0116a |
Type: | Collage |
Release date: | 5 December 2001, 15:00 |
Related releases: | heic0116 |
Size: | 2300 x 1862 px |
About the Object
Name: | Dark Matter object, MACHO |
Type: | Milky Way : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing Milky Way : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Dark Matter |
Category: | Cosmology |
Colours & filters
Band | Telescope |
---|---|
Optical V |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical R |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Infrared I |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |