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Multiwavelength View of NGC 3351 (Hubble, VLT, ALMA)

Face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 3351. The galaxy has a bright white core, a wide circular lane of pink and blue, and red specks at the edges of the frame that are the ends of its pink-and-blue spiral arms.

This image of spiral galaxy NGC 3351 combines observations from several observatories to reveal details about its stars and gas. Radio observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show dense molecular gas in magenta. The Very Large Telescope’s Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument highlights where young massive stars illuminate their surroundings, set off in red. The Hubble Space Telescope’s images highlight dust lanes in white and newly formed stars in blue. High-resolution infrared images from the Webb Space Telescope will help researchers identify where stars are forming behind dust and study the earliest stages of star formation in this galaxy.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    10:43:55.08
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    +11:41:24.70
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Leo
  • 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.
    Approximately 33 million light-years.
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is 2.9 arcmin across (about 28,000 light-years)

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.

    The Hubble portion of this image was created from HST data from proposal: 13364 (D. Calzetti)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFC3/UVIS VLT>MUSE ALMA
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    HST> 01 March 2014, 23 April 2014
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    HST/WFC3> F275W, F336W, F438W, F555W, F814W VLT/MUSE> F502N, F673N, F656N, Johnson B, Johnson V, Johnson R, SDSS b, SDSS r, SDSS i
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    NGC 3351
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Barred spiral galaxy
  • Release Date
    January 19, 2022
  • Science Release
    Capturing All That Glitters in Galaxies with NASA’s Webb
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, ESO-Chile, ALMA, NAOJ, NRAO; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print), 2202 × 2176
    tif (13.74 MB)
  • Full Res (For Display), 2202 × 2176
    png (8.52 MB)
  • 2000 × 1976
    png (6.75 MB)
Face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 3351. The galaxy has a bright white core, a wide circular lane of pink and blue, and red specks at the edges of the frame that are the ends of its pink-and-blue spiral arms.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Several filters were used to sample narrow and 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: HST/WFC3> Magenta: F275W                        Purple: F336W                        Blue: F438W                        Green: F555W                        Red: F814W VLT/MUSE> Blue: F502N + Johnson B + SDSS b                       Green: F673N + Johnson V + SDSS r                       Red: F656N + Johnson R + SDSS i ALMA> Magenta

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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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Science Credit

NASA, ESA, ESO-Chile, ALMA, NAOJ, NRAO

Image Processing Credit

Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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