Hubble image archive
Survey of White Dwarf Stars in the Milky Way Bulge
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected for the first time a population of white dwarfs embedded in the hub of our Milky Way galaxy. The Hubble images are the deepest, most detailed study of the galaxy's central bulge of stars. The smoldering remnants of once-vibrant stars can...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2015
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2015-38-3645-image
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected for the first time a population of white dwarfs embedded in the hub of our Milky Way galaxy. The Hubble images are the deepest, most detailed study of the galaxy's central bulge of stars. The smoldering remnants of once-vibrant stars can yield clues to our galaxy's early construction stages that happened long before Earth and our sun formed.
[Left] – This is a small section of Hubble's view of the dense collection of stars crammed together in the galactic bulge. The region surveyed is part of the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search (SWEEPS) field and is located 26,000 light-years away.
[Right] – Hubble uncovered extremely faint and hot white dwarfs. This is a sample of 16 out of the 70 brightest white dwarfs spied by Hubble in the Milky Way's bulge. Astronomers picked them out based on their faintness, blue-white color, and motion relative to our sun. The numbers in the inset images correspond to the white dwarfs' location in the larger Hubble view.
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 TeamImage Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | SWEEPS Field |
| Object Description | Stellar Survey Field Near the Galactic Bulge |
| R.A. Position | 17h 59m 1.88s |
| Dec. Position | -29° 13' 40.69" |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Hubble 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). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC |
| Filters | F606W (V) and F814W (I) |
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