Megamasers 100 million times brighter than Milky Way
- 8 years ago
Megamasers 100 million times brighter than Milky Way
Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way.
The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light (hence the ‘m’ replacing the ‘l’).
This megamaser is named IRAS 16399-0937, and is located over 370 million light-years from Earth. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image belies the galaxy’s energetic nature, instead painting it as a beautiful and serene cosmic rosebud.
The image comprises observations captured across various wavelengths by two of Hubble’s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS).
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla )
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1652a
.
Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way.
The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light (hence the ‘m’ replacing the ‘l’).
This megamaser is named IRAS 16399-0937, and is located over 370 million light-years from Earth. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image belies the galaxy’s energetic nature, instead painting it as a beautiful and serene cosmic rosebud.
The image comprises observations captured across various wavelengths by two of Hubble’s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS).
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla )
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1652a
.