Hubble image archive

Hubble View of Entire SWEEPS Field

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a dense collection of stars crammed together in the Milky Way galaxy's ancient central hub. The region surveyed represents one entire field of the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) program. The region is 26,000...

Date
Jan 1, 2015
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-2015-38-3644-image
By

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a dense collection of stars crammed together in the Milky Way galaxy's ancient central hub. The region surveyed represents one entire field of the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) program. The region is 26,000 light-years away.

Studying the stars in this field, astronomers identified for the first time 70 white dwarfs, the fading embers of sun-like stars. These ancient, dead stars hold information on the galaxy's infancy.

Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys made the observations in 2004 and 2011-2013.

Credits

NASA, ESA, A. Calamida and K. Sahu (STScI), and the SWEEPS Science Team

Image Details

About The Object
Object NameSagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) Field
Object DescriptionStellar Survey Field Near the Galactic Bulge
R.A. Position17h 59m 1.88s
Dec. Position-29° 13' 40.69"
ConstellationSagittarius
About The Data
Data DescriptionHubble data for this release were obtained from the following HST proposals: : PI: K. Sahu (STScI), R. Gilliland (Pennsylvania State University), H. Bond (STScI/Pennsylvania State University), T. Brown (University of Colorado), S. Casertano and M. Livio (STScI), D. Minniti (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), N. Panagia (STScI), A. Renzini (Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Italy), R. Rich (UCLA), and M. Zoccali (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile); and proposal; : PI: K. Sahu (STScI), H. Bond (STScI/Pennsylvania State University), T. Brown, H. Ferguson, J. Anderson, and S. Casertano (STScI), M. Dominik (University of St. Andrews), A. Udalski (Warsaw University), M. Livio (STScI), Y. Perrott (University of Cambridge), M. Albrow (University of Canterbury), P. Yock (University of Auckland), C. Fryer (Los Alamos National Laboratory), S. Mao (Manchester University), and I. Bond (Massey University). The international team of astronomers in this study includes: A. Calamida, K. Sahu, S. Casertano, and J. Anderson (STScI), S. Cassisi (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo, Italy), M. Gennaro, M. Cignoni, T. Brown, N. Kains, H. Ferguson, and M. Livio (STScI), H. Bond (STScI/Pennsylvania State University), R. Buonanno (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo, Italy, and Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy), W. Clarkson (University of Michigan, Dearborn), I. Ferraro (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo, Italy), A. Pietrinferni (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Italy), M. Salaris (Astrophysics Research Institute/Liverpool John Moores University), and J. Valenti and J. Sokol (STScI).
InstrumentHST>ACS/WFC
Exposure Dates2004, 2011-2013
FiltersF606W (V) and F814W (I)
About The Image
Color InfoBlue: F606W (V) Green: (V) + (I) Red: F814W (I)

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