Image Gallery >
Astronomical Images >
Galaxies and the Universe >
sig06-018
|
| NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI) |
Supernova Dust Factory in M74
Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted a "dust factory" thirty million light-years away in the spiral galaxy M74. The factory is located at the scene of a massive star's explosive death, or supernova.
While astronomers have suspected for years that supernovae could be producers of cosmic dust particles, the technology to confirm this suspicion has only recently become available.
The dust factory, also known as supernova SN 2003gd, is shown at the center of the two small insets from Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). A white arrow points to its exact location. The yellow-green dot shown in the July 2004 inset (top) shows that the source's temperature is warmer than the surrounding material. This is because newly formed dust within the supernova is just starting to cool. By January 2005, the dust had cooled and completely faded from IRAC's view. However, it was still detected in January 2005 by another instrument aboard Spitzer called the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). The MIPS image is not shown here.
The larger image to the right of the insets is the galaxy M74, as seen by Spitzer's Infrared Array Camera. The white box to the left of the galaxy's center identifies the location of the supernova remnant. In all the images, the blue dots represent hot gas and stars. The galaxy's cool dust is shown in red.
The images are false-color, infrared composites, in which 3.6-micron light is blue, 4.5-micron light is green, and 8-micron light is red.
To download, choose your preferred resolution and file format below.
"High-Resolution" files will always be the highest resolution and widest
crop available, intended for print. Other resolutions are provided for
convenient on-screen viewing.
Screen-Resolution (450x360) :
JPEG
(60 KB)
Medium-Resolution (900x720) :
JPEG
(148 KB)
High-Resolution (3000x2400) :
JPEG
(2.7 MB)
|
Mac TIFF
(6.8 MB)
| PC TIFF (6.8 MB)
| About the Object (1) | | Object name: | M74, NGC628, Messeir 74, NGC 628, Supernova 2003gd | | Object type: | Supernova remnant | | Position (J2000): | RA: 01h 36m 42.65s Dec: 15° 44' 19.90" | | Distance: | 30 million light-years |
|
About the Data
|
|
Spitzer Data
|
| Image Credit: | NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI) | | Instrument: | IRAC | | Wavelength: | 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 8.0 (red) microns | | Exposure Date: | July 28, 2004 and January 18, 2005 | | Exposure Time: | 1500 sec/pixel (2004) and 536 sec/pixel (2005) | | Image scale: | 2 arc minutes per inset, 10 arc minutes for galaxy | | Orientation: | North is 70 degrees CW from up | | Release Date: | 2006/06/08 |
|
Observers
|
Ben E. K. Sugerman (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Barbara Ercolano (University College London)
Michael. J. Barlow (University College London)
A. G. G. M. Tielens (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute)
Geoffrey C. Clayton (Louisiana State University)
Albert A. Zijlstra (University of Manchester)
Margaret Meixner (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Angela Speck (University of Missouri)
Tim M. Gledhill (University of Hertfordshire)
Nino Panagia (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Martin Cohen (Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy)
Karl D. Gordon (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
Martin Meyer (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Joanna Fabbri (University College London)
Janet. E. Bowey (University College London)
Douglas L. Welch (McMaster University)
Michael W. Regan (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr. (Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge) |
INDIVIDUAL IMAGES
|
July 2004
Screen-Resolution (450x447):
JPEG
High-Resolution (2339x2325):
JPEG
|
Mac TIFF
|
PC TIFF
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)
|
|
January 2005
Screen-Resolution (450x447):
JPEG
High-Resolution (2340x2325):
JPEG
|
Mac TIFF
|
PC TIFF
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)
|
|
Galaxy M74
Screen-Resolution (449x450):
JPEG
High-Resolution (2325x2329):
JPEG
|
Mac TIFF
|
PC TIFF
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)
|
|
