Panning across Hubble observations of the Andromeda Galaxy
This video shows NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images of four regions in the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. Hubble’s position above the distorting effect of the atmosphere, combined with the galaxy’s relative proximity, means that the galaxy can be resolved into individual stars, rather than the cloudy white wisps usually seen in observations of galaxies.
These observations were made in order to observe a wide variety of stars in Andromeda, ranging from faint main sequence stars like our own Sun, to the much brighter RR Lyrae stars, which are a type of variable star. With these measurements, astronomers can determine the chemistry and ages of the stars in each part of the Andromeda Galaxy.
Credit:NASA, ESA and T.M. Brown (STScI). Music: John Dyson (from the album Moonwind)
About the Video
Id: | heic1112c |
Release date: | 21 July 2011, 10:00 |
Related releases: | heic1112 |
Duration: | 01 m 27 s |
Frame rate: | 30 fps |
About the Object
Name: | Andromeda Galaxy, M 31, Messier 31 |
Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral Local Universe : Star : Type : Variable Local Universe : Galaxy : Component : Halo |
Category: | Galaxies HD Stars |