Hubble image archive
NGC 4993
The galaxy NGC 4993 is located about 130 million light-years from Earth. On August 17, 2017, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detected gravitational waves from a neutron star collision within this galaxy. The event also resulted in a flare of light called a...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2017
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2017-41-4078-image
The galaxy NGC 4993 is located about 130 million light-years from Earth. On August 17, 2017, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detected gravitational waves from a neutron star collision within this galaxy. The event also resulted in a flare of light called a kilonova, which is visible to the upper left of the galactic center in this Hubble Space Telescope image.
Credits
NASA and ESAAcknowledgment: A. Levan (U. Warwick), N. Tanvir (U. Leicester), and A. Fruchter and O. Fox (STScI)
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NGC 4993 |
| Object Description | Elliptical Galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 13 09 48.080 |
| Dec. Position | -23 22 53.20 |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Distance | 130 million light-years (to NGC 4993) |
| Dimensions | Image is about 1.6 arcmin across, about 60,500 light-years at the distance of NGC 4993. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Data were provided by the HST proposals (A. Bellini, P.I.), (A. Levan, P.I.), (N. Tanvir, P.I.) |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | April 28, and August 22, 2017 |
| Filters | WFC3/UVIS F606W, WFC3/IR F110W, F160W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope using two different cameras and filters isolating the light of specific elements or of specific broad wavelength ranges. The color arises by assigning different hues (colors), to each monochromatic image. In this case, the colors are: blue WFC3/UVIS F606W, green WFC3/IR F110W, orange/red: WFC3/IR F160W. |
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov