ASTRONOMÍA:VISTA unveils a new image of the Large Magellanic Cloud
The Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, is one of our nearest galactic neighbors, at only 163 000 light years from Earth. With its sibling the Small Magellanic Cloud, these are among the nearest dwarf satellite galaxies to the Milky Way. The LMC is also the home of various stellar conglomerates and is an ideal laboratory for astronomers to study the processes that shape galaxies.
ESO’s VISTA telescope, has been observing these two galaxies for the last decade. The image presented today is the result of one of the many surveys that astronomers have performed with this telescope. The main goal of the VISTA Magellanic Clouds (VMC) Survey has been to map the star formation history of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, as well as their three-dimensional structures.
VISTA was key to this image because it observes the sky in near-infrared wavelengths of light. This allows it to see through clouds of dust that obscure parts of the galaxy. These clouds block a large portion of visible light but are transparent at the longer wavelengths VISTA was built to observe. As a result, many more of the individual stars populating the centre of the galaxy are clearly visible. Astronomers analysed about 10 million individual stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud in detail and determined their ages using cutting-edge stellar models[1]. They found that younger stars trace multiple spiral arms in this galaxy.
For millennia, the Magellanic Clouds have fascinated people in the Southern Hemisphere, but they were largely unknown to Europeans until the Age of Discovery. The name we use today harkens back to the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who 500 years ago began the first circumnavigation of the Earth. The records the expedition brought back to Europe revealed many places and things to Europeans for the first time. The spirit of exploration and discovery is ever more live today in the work of astronomers around the world, including the VMC Survey team whose observations led to this stunning image of the LMC.
Notes
[1] Stellar models allow astronomers to predict the life and death of stars, providing insights into properties like their ages, mass, and temperature.
More information
The stars revealed by this image were discussed in the paper “The VMC Survey - XXXIV. Morphology of Stellar Populations in the Magellanic Clouds” to appear in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The Large Magellanic Cloud revealed by VISTA
ESO’s VISTA telescope reveals a remarkable image of the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our nearest galactic neighbours. VISTA has been surveying this galaxy and its sibling the Small Magellanic Cloud, as well as their surroundings, in unprecedented detail. This survey allows astronomers to observe a large number of stars, opening up new opportunities to study stellar evolution, galactic dynamics, and variable stars.
Credit:
ESO/VMC Survey
Highlights of the Large Magellanic Cloud
These cutouts highlight some of the most spectacular regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is one of our closest galactic neighbours. The image was taken with the VISTA telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory.
Credit:
ESO/VMC Survey
Large Magellanic Cloud
The location of the Large Magellanic Cloud between the constellations Dorado and Mensa.
Credit:
ESO, IAU and Sky & Telescope
Video
ESOcast 206 Light: VISTA Unveils the Large Magellanic Cloud (4K UHD)
ESO’s VISTA telescope has been surveying our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud for about a decade. The observations revealed in unprecedented detail the properties of 10 million stars in the galaxy. As a result, astronomers have got new opportunities to study stellar evolution, galactic dynamics, and variable stars.
The video is available in 4K UHD.
The ESOcast Light is a series of short videos bringing you the wonders of the Universe in bite-sized pieces. The ESOcast Light episodes will not be replacing the standard, longer ESOcasts, but complement them with current astronomy news and images in ESO press releases.
Credit:
Directed by: Nico Bartmann and Herbert Zodet.
Editing: Nico Bartmann.
Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida.
Written by: Vanessa Emeka-Okafor, Herbert Zodet and Mariya Lyubenova.
Music: tonelabs – Expect The Unexpected (www.tonelabs.com)
Footage and photos: ESO, Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org), VMC Survey.
Scientific consultants: Paola Amico and Mariya Lyubenova.
Zooming on the Large Magellanic Cloud
This video zooms on the Large Magellanic Cloud as revealed by the ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Astronomers used this image to analyse in detail about 10 million individual stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Credit:
ESO, N. Rinsinger (skysurvey.org). Music: Astral Electronic
Comparison of the Large Magellanic Cloud in infrared and visible light
This video compares a huge new infrared image of the Large Magellanic
Cloud from ESO's VISTA telescope to a more traditional view in visible
light. By observing at longer infrared wavelengths VISTA can penetrate
the dust clouds of this neighbouring galaxy and reveal the stars much
more clearly.
Credit:
Credit:
ESO/VMC Survey
Comparison of the Tarantula nebula in infrared and visible light
This video compares an infrared image of the Tarantula nebula in the neighbouring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud from ESO's VISTA telescope to a more traditional view in visible light.
Credit:
ESO/VMC Survey
Panning across the Large Magellanic Cloud
This pan video explores the vivid face of our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud on an image produced by ESO's VISTA telescope.
Credit:
ESO/VMC Survey
Fuente: The ESO Department of Communication
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