Spiral Galaxy NGC 4303: Optical & Radio Views | European Southern Observatory

Spiral Galaxy NGC 4303: Optical & Radio Views | European Southern Observatory

This video shows images of NGC 4303, a spiral galaxy with a bar of stars and gas at its center located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo, taken at many different wavelengths of light. The observations were conducted with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). ESO is an ALMA partner. 

The first two images are from the MUSE data. Initially the green, red and infrared (g, r, i) emission is shown to reveal the distribution of young stars. This fades to a combination of g, r, i emission with radiation from warm gas clouds of hydrogen (Hα), doubly ionized oxygen—[OIII]—and singly ionized sulphur—[SII]—, elements that signal the presence of newly born stars.

The next image shows the ALMA data only. ALMA was used to map cold clouds of molecular gas. This provides the raw material for stars to form. Thousands of stars can form in just one of these molecular clouds, yet these stellar nurseries are invisible to the human eye—they can only be observed via the radio waves emitted by carbon monoxide (CO).

The following image is a combination of all the MUSE and ALMA data, forming a colorful cosmic firework. This is helping astronomers to unlock the secrets of star formation.

The images were taken as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) project. It is making high resolution observations of nearby galaxies with telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Credit: ESO/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/PHANGS
Duration: 17 seconds
Release Date: July 16, 2021

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