A surprising telescope picture captures the Grand Design spiral galaxy

This picture of the spiral galaxy NGC 4254, also called the Coma Pinwheel or Messier 99, is a composite of information taken by ESO’s Very Massive Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Massive Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). Credit score: ESO/PHANGS

This gorgeous picture clearly exhibits the distinct arms of the spiral galaxy NGC 4254, also called the Coma Pinwheel or Messier 99. Due to its distinctive spinning wheel form with outstanding wings, it’s known as the Grand Design Spiral Galaxy.

It was found on March 17, 1781 by the French astronomer Pierre Mechen. He reported this to French astronomer Charles Messier, who included the thing in Messier’s catalog of comet-like objects. Trendy expertise has allowed us to look at such galaxies in considerably larger element than once they have been first noticed by Mechain and Messier within the 18th century.

NGC 4254 is a magnificently designed spiral galaxy within the northern constellation Coma Berenices, positioned roughly 49,000,000 light-years away.[{” attribute=””>Milky Way. In Latin, Coma Berenices means “Berenice’s Hair” and refers to Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who sacrificed her long hair as a religious offering.

This image is a composite of data taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), co-owned by ESO. The VLT data, shown in blue and purple tones, was captured with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument, mapping the distribution of stars. The ALMA data – shown here by the red and orange regions – originates from cold clouds of gas which can eventually collapse into stars. Comparing these two datasets allows for a better understanding of how stars form.

This image was taken as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) survey, which produces high-resolution images of nearby galaxies across all wavelengths of light. This will allow astronomers to learn more about the diverse range of galactic environments found in our Universe.