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“Eye of Sauron” Galaxy Used For New Method of Galactic Surveying
Image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4151, aka “The Eye of Sauron”. Credit: NASA/Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, La Palma/Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope/NSF/NRAO/VLA
Determining the distance of galaxies from our Solar System is a tricky business. Knowing just how far other galaxies are in relation to our own is not only key to understanding the size of the universe, but its age as well. In the past, this process relied on finding stars in other galaxies whose absolute light output was measurable. By gauging the brightness of these stars, scientists have been able to survey certain galaxies that lie 300 million light years from us.
However, a new and more accurate method has been developed, thanks to a team of scientists led by Dr. Sebastian Hoenig from the University of Southampton. Similar to what land surveyors use here on Earth, they measured the physical and angular (or apparent) size of a standard ruler in the galaxy to calibrate distance measurements.
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Read the rest of “Eye of Sauron” Galaxy Used For New Method of Galactic Surveying (611 words)
© mwill for Universe Today, 2014. |
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Post tags: active galactic nuclei, NASA, NGC 4151, supermassive black hole, The Eye of Sauron, W.M. Keck Observatory
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/116768/eye-of-sauron-galaxy-used-for-new-method-of-galactic-surveying/
Cylinder of vesica.