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February 10, 2009 09:00 AM (EST)

News Release Number: STScI-2009-07

NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate the International Year of Astronomy with a National Unveiling of Spectacular Images

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Technical facts about this news release:

About the Object
Object Name: M101, NGC 4547, The Pinwheel Galaxy
Object Description: Face-on Spiral Galaxy
Position (J2000): R.A. 14h 03m 13s
Dec. +54° 20' 53"
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 21.8 million light-years (6.7 megaparsecs)
Dimensions: This image is 18 arcminutes (114,000 light-years or 35,000 parsecs) wide.
About the Spitzer Data
Data Description: The science team for the Spitzer data include K. Gordon (STScI), C. Engelbracht, G. Rieke, K. Misselt, and J.-D. Smith (University of Arizona), and R. Kennicutt (University of Cambridge).
Instrument: IRAC and MIPS
Exposure Date(s): Mar 8, 2004 and May 10/11, 2004
Filters: 85 sec/pixel (IRAC); 200 sec/pixel (MIPS 24 micron)
About the Hubble Data
Data Description: This image was created from HST data from the following proposals:
  • 9490: K. Kuntz (Johns Hopkins University)
  • 9492: F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii)
  • 5210: J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
  • 5397: J. Mould (NOAO)
  • 6829: Y.-C. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana)
The Hubble exposures have been superimposed onto ground-based images, visible at the edge of the image, taken at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii, and at the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Arizona.
Instrument: ACS/WFC and WFPC2
Exposure Date(s): March 1994, September 1994, June 1999, November 2002, and January 2003
Filters: F435W(B), F555W(V), F814W(I)
About the Chandra Data
Data Description: The science team was led by K. Kuntz (Johns Hopkins University).
Instrument: ACIS
Exposure Date(s): March 2000 - January 2005
Energies: 0.45 - 1.00 keV and 1.00 - 2.00 keV
About the Image
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC, SSC, and STScI
Release Date: February 10, 2009
Orientation: Compass and Scale Illustration for M101
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