This image of galaxy NGC 4151, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3, shows compass arrows and labels for reference.
The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).
The scale bar is labeled in light-years, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year. (It takes 6,100 years for light to travel a distance equal to the length of the bar.) One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers. The field of view shown in this image is approximately 440,000 light-years across.
This image shows visible and ultraviolet wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors. The color key shows which filters were used when collecting the light. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.
Read more about NGC 4151.
Credits
Image
NASA, ESA, Joseph DePasquale
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NGC 4151 |
| Object Description | Spiral Galaxy with Active Galactic Nucleus |
| R.A. Position | 12:10:32.6 |
| Dec. Position | +39:24:21 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
| Distance | 62 million light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is 2.4 arcmin across (about 440,000 light years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from programs (B. Peterson) |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | 07 Dec 2015 - 18 Feb 2016 |
| Filters | F350LP, F555W, F814W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow 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: Luminosity: F350LP Cyan: F555W Orange: F814W |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The 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. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
