Film & Animation

A Zoom to the Black Hole in M87

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A zoom into the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87) from a wide field view of the entire galaxy to the supermassive black hole at its core. This series of nine images starts with visible light views, but quickly transitions to radio wavelengths. The final image from the Event Horizon Telescope has a resolution 2500 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope.... Read More

A Galaxy Grouping in 2D and 3D: Stephan’s Quintet

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In 1877, Edouard Stephan discovered a tight visual grouping of five galaxies located in the constellation Pegasus. The galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet are both overlapping and interacting, and have become the most famous among the compact groups of galaxies. Astronomers have long known that four of the galaxies (all of which are yellowish-white in this video) form a physical group in space, while the fifth (bluish) is a foreground galaxy. In addition, a sixth galaxy (yellowish-white and on the far left) is likely to be part of the physical grouping. Hence, this 2D quintet that is a 3D quartet may actually be a 2D sextet that is a 3D quintet. ... Read More

Flyby of the Whirlpool Galaxy

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The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51, is one of the nearest and best examples of a grand design spiral galaxy. Located about 25 million light-years away, the face-on galaxy exposes the full details of its swirling structures of stars, gas, and dust. The striking symmetry of its spiral pattern may be due to a gravitational interaction with a companion dwarf galaxy, NGC 5195, which is not included in this visualization.... Read More