HUBBLE IMAGE AND 3D MODEL OF M87 (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

HUBBLE IMAGE AND 3D MODEL OF M87

Caption

A photo of the huge elliptical galaxy M87 [left] is compared to its three-dimensional shape as gleaned from meticulous observations made with the Hubble and Keck telescopes [right]. Because the galaxy is too far away for astronomers to employ stereoscopic vision, they instead followed the motion of stars around the center of M87, like bees around a hive. This created a three-dimensional view of how stars are distributed within the galaxy.

Credit

ILLUSTRATION: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI) SCIENCE: Chung-Pei Ma (UC Berkeley)

Usage Restrictions

No restrictions.

License

Public Domain

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