SPACE PHOTOS

Estimate Request for the image S02587

To make a request for several images, go back to the Picture Library and add them to the Light Box.



Ref : S02587

Theme :  Galaxies  (118 images)

Title : Utraviolet Light Source in an Old Galaxy

Caption :

Hubble Space Telescope's exquisite resolution has allowed astronomers to resolve, for the first time, hot blue stars deep inside an elliptical galaxy. The swarm of nearly 8,000 blue stars resembles a blizzard of snowflakes near the core (lower right) of the neighboring galaxy M32, located 2.5 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. Hubble confirms that the ultraviolet light comes from a population of extremely hot helium-burning stars at a late stage in their lives. Unlike the Sun, which burns hydrogen into helium, these old stars exhausted their central hydrogen long ago, and now burn helium into heavier elements. The observations, taken in October 1998, were made with the camera mode of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) in ultraviolet light. The STIS field of view is only a small portion of the entire galaxy, which is 20 times wider on the sky. For reference, the full moon is 70 times wider than the STIS field-of-view. Thirty years ago, the first ultraviolet observations of elliptical galaxies showed that they were surprisingly bright when viewed in ultraviolet light. Before those pioneering UV observations, old groups of stars were assumed to be relatively cool and thus extremely faint in the ultraviolet. Over the years since the initial discovery of this unexpected ultraviolet light, indirect evidence has accumulated that it originates in a population of old, but hot, helium-burning stars. Now Hubble provides the first direct visual evidence.



to specify how you want to use these images. You can also send your request by E-mail
To make a request for several images, go back to the Picture Library and add them to the Light Box.

Image(s) use :
 
 
Reproduction format of the image in the final document :
 
 
Print run of the document on which the image is reproduced :
 
 
Number of consecutive uses :
 
 
If image is reproduced in the Press, please specify number of titles :
 
 
If image is reproduced as a poster
please specify size of the poster :
 
 
Give all useful information or specify the use of the image(s) in this box :