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Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6217 Thursday, October 01, 2009 - Anuradha Menon Home >> Picture Of The Day >> Space   
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| This image of barred spiral galaxy NGC 6217 is the first image of a celestial object taken with the newly repaired Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The camera was restored to operation during the STS-125 servicing mission in May to upgrade Hubble. | ||||||||||
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| The barred spiral galaxy NGC 6217 was photographed on June 13 and July 8, 2009, as part of the initial testing and calibration of Hubble's ACS. The galaxy lies 6 million light-years away in the north circumpolar constellation Ursa Major. The Hubble Space Telescope is noted for providing beautiful and often bizarre color pictures of galaxies, planets, and nebulae. The telescope, a joint ESA and NASA project, has made some of the most dramatic discoveries in the history of astronomy. From its vantage point 600 km above the Earth, Hubble can detect light with 'eyes' 5 times sharper than the best ground-based telescopes, looking deep into space where some of the most profound mysteries are still buried in the mists of time. (Source: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team) |
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