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Compass and Scale Image of M31 Center

Compass and Scale Image of M31 Center

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    00h 42m 44.0s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    41° 16' 8.99"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Andromeda
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    About 2.5 million light-years (0.8 megaparsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    This image was created from Hubble data from proposal 10571: T. Lauer (NOAO), J. Kormendy and K. Gebhardt (University of Texas, Austin), R. Bender (Universitats-Sternwarte, Munich), and R. Green (NOAO).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/HRC
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    June 15-16, 2007, Exposure Time: 2.9 hours
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F330W (u) and F435W (B)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    M31 Nucleus, NGC 224, Andromeda Galaxy,
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Nucleus of M31
  • Release Date
    January 11, 2012
  • Science Release
    Hubble Zooms in on Double Nucleus in Andromeda Galaxy
    Read the release
  • Credits
    Illustration: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI); Science: NASA, ESA, and T. Lauer (National Optical Astronomy Observatory)

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Compass and Scale Image of M31 Center
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS instrument on HST. Several filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F330W (u) Orange: F435W (B)

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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Hubble Zooms in on Double Nucleus in Andromeda Galaxy

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Zoom into Sharpest Visible-light View of Andromeda Galaxy's Double Nucleus

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Details

Last Updated
Feb 17, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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