This gorgeous color CCD image shows M99, a type Sc spiral galaxy in the
constellation Coma Berenices, and a prominent member of the
Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. Its face-on orientation fully
reveals its spiral arms, and this picture has been `flattened' (in brightness) to
show arm structure both near the nucleus and into the outer regions of the galaxy
(most representations either saturate the center or do not go deep enough to see
the edges). This picture was taken in February 1996 at the
0.9-m telescope of
Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Credit: AURA/NOAO/NSF
Virgo cluster spiral M99, as photographed by Adam Block of the
Advanced Observing Program,
Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) Visitor Center, with their Meade 16-inch
LX200 telescope operating at f/6.3 and SBIG ST8E CCD camera with color filter
wheel. This is a composite of 4 CCD exposures: L, Luminance = 40 min; R, Red = 10
min; G, Green = 10 min; and B, Blue = 20 min. Note the obvious disturbations in the
appearance of this galaxy, caused by gravitational interactioons with its many
neighbors in the Virgo cluster, as well as the vivid colors displayed by this
galaxy: A yellowish central region, composed of older stellar population II, and
spiral arms hosting reddish-pinkish diffuse nebulae which are star-forming regions,
as well as blueish clusters and associations of hot young population I stars,
miced up with dark structures of dust.
Credit: Adam Block/AURA/NOAO/NSF
Last Modification: November 24, 2000