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Credit & Copyright: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Collaboration
Explanation:
The graceful spiral galaxy
NGC 6070,
100 million light-years distant in
the constellation Serpens,
is helping astronomers celebrate
"First Light" (the first
test sky images)
for an exciting new telescope built to perform the ambitious
Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
The dedicated survey instrument, located at Apache Point Observatory
in Sunspot, New Mexico, USA, will map 1/4 of the entire sky
in unprecedented detail with sophisticated digital
imaging and data processing technologies.
Telescopic observations tend to offer sensitive views of only
very small pieces of the universe.
Interpreting the results is a bit like watching a
baseball game through a
a drinking straw and trying to figure out what's going on!
But scanning the sky over five years of planned operation,
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey will
build up
a multi-color, 3-dimensional view of a large portion of the visible
universe.
At the turn of the
millennium, this
"big picture" will give humanity a critical new and detailed
field guide to the cosmos.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy - NGC 6070 - sloan sky survey
Publications with words: spiral galaxy - NGC 6070 - sloan sky survey
See also: