Advances in new technologies never cease to amaze us, this time NASA has built a telescope capable of capturing sharper images. To be more specific, they have achieved the sharpest image of the Andromeda galaxy ever captured. This is certainly great news for fans of stars and space themes. Since the photograph shows at least 500 million stars in said galaxy.
The image published by NASA has generated a great impact on social networks, especially due to the great sharpness of the photograph. Where you can “zoom” to see more closely the large number of stars in the Andromeda galaxy.
How did NASA get such a sharp image?
Credits to: Astro Aventura
A few months ago, in December 2021 to be more specific, NASA made a huge impact around the world. The reason, they developed and launched into space the newest and most powerful telescope that had ever been built before.
The novel device was named the James Webb Telescope, developed to carry out specific missions led by NASA. One of these missions was to closely observe the light emitted by stars and also by galaxies. In the same way, another of his missions was to investigate the universe in a deep way, with the purpose of discovering any sign of life.
The most modern telescope that NASA has?
The James Webb telescope took off from French Guiana, located on the northeast coast of South America. Its launch into orbit was achieved with the help of a European rocket in which it was attached.
Likewise, NASA’s James Webb telescope is so far one of the most expensive to date. In fact, according to estimates it is believed that the cost of this device could exceed approximately 10 billion dollars.
In addition, the capacity of said telescope is so far the most advanced in the entire history of NASA. Since one of its main purposes is to discover all the secrets and mysteries that the universe keeps. If as well, appreciate as closely as possible all the beauty that can be found by observing the confines of space.
The NASA photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy, however, was not captured with the state-of-the-art James Webb telescope. Although it may seem very strange, the new device has only been in orbit for a few months.
Now the sharp image of the Andromeda galaxy was captured by the Hubble telescope. In which you can see a panoramic and detailed view of the galaxy, being up to now the clearest photograph in all history.
How many stars can be seen in the image of the Andromeda galaxy?
According to the image obtained by NASA through the Hubble telescope, it is possible to appreciate in detail the stars within the Andromeda galaxy. What is incredible if you take into account that it is at a distance of more than two million light years.
The power of the Hubble telescope is so incredible that it is possible to notice stars located in individual stretches. As long as they are at a distance of at least 61 thousand light years approximately.
Every day that passes there are more people who are curious about topics as interesting as those of the universe. Therefore, at night, it has become common to look up at the sky to better observe it. If you do not live in an area where you can enjoy the beautiful view of the night sky, there are alternatives such as social networks to get it.
It is precisely, through one of the most popular social networks today, that the image captured by the Hubble telescope was released. The Twitter account @astroAventura was the means by which the image of the Andromeda galaxy was disseminated in all its splendor.
It is an animated reproduction in video format, where you can see at least 500 million stars that are part of the Andromeda galaxy. Which is really incredible, since the sharpness of the image allows you to zoom in and see more details of all the stars inside said galaxy.
The duration of this reproduction is 37 seconds, which although it seems little, is enough to observe every detail with surprising clarity. There are many followers of the Twitter account who have observed and shared the NASA image. Even said account currently has more than 196 thousand followers that increased with the publication of the photograph.
Why is the image obtained by NASA so important?
To get an idea of the importance of this photograph, the clearest example may be the following. Imagine that it is an image of a beach where each of the grains of sand can be distinguished very clearly.
Now, in the capture provided by NASA there are 500 million stars that can be observed in the Andromeda galaxy. Many of these are inside thousands of star clusters.
Undoubtedly, photographic mapping, beyond being quite ambitious, is very important to achieve more precise studies of spiral-shaped galaxies. Being a fundamental reference point to observe other galaxies similar to Andromeda throughout the universe.
Once again, it is essential to highlight that this is the first time that NASA astronomers have been able to observe the stars individually. Especially since it is an external spiral galaxy, which is also found in a fairly large contiguous area.
The reproduction was obtained through the PHAT program known by its acronym as Hubble’s Andromeda Treasure Panchromatic. All the photographs were obtained by observing the Andromeda Galaxy using wavelengths very close to ultraviolet.
For this, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, as well as the Wide Field Camera 3, were used. Both are part of the Hubble telescope and were instrumental in obtaining the image of the Andromeda galaxy.
What is the Andromeda galaxy?
Andromeda is known to be a galaxy that is made up of various star systems, gas, and dust. Each of these elements is affected in one way or another by the gravity that occurs in said galaxy.
The Andromeda galaxy is located about 2.5 million light years away from planet Earth. Furthermore, it is the only celestial body that can be observed even without belonging to the Milky Way. The Persian-born astronomer Al-Sufi was the first to obtain information about Andromeda.
It happened in the year 961, when the astronomer observed it and specifically described it as a small cloud cluster located in the constellation Andromeda. Although there is a high probability that older peoples discovered it first.
What are its main characteristics?
The shape of the Andromeda galaxy is very similar to the Milky Way, being one of its main characteristics. In other words, it has the shape of a flat disk, where a protrusion can be distinguished and also a series of spiral arms that meet in the central part.
It must be taken into account that all galaxies do not have the same design as Andromeda. In fact, from the Hubble telescope hundreds of galaxies with different designs could be studied. Managing to classify them as elliptical “E”, spiral “S” and lenticular “L”.
In the case of Andromeda, in addition to being classified as a spiral galaxy, said classification is fragmented into two groups. These are the spiral galaxies with central bars and those without this element.
Likewise, the Andromeda galaxy is composed of a double nucleus, in terms of its size, it can be said that it is very close to that of the Milky Way. It is at least 220,000 light-years across.
In the same way, inside Andromeda there are several satellite galaxies, capable of interacting gravitationally. These are the dwarf elliptical galaxies M32 and M110 and also the smaller spiral galaxy known as M33.
The universe is really beautiful and still has many secrets and mysteries to discover. But for now, let’s just enjoy the image of the Andromeda galaxy released by NASA. And above all, let the brilliance of its millions of stars remain engraved in your memory.
Sources: Heraldo México, Astro Aventura, Meteorology Network.