Sixty-two million-light years from the earth, a gigantic spiral of dust and light deploys his arms in the silence of the cosmos. Long known as Messier 77, this celestial structure has intrigued astronomers since the 18th century. Today, thanks to the refined observations of the Hubble telescope, she reveals unsuspected details which earned her a new and evocative nickname: the Calmar galaxy.
Messier 77 is also known for its gravitational influence, capable of disturbing its galactic neighbors. Its spiral arms are wrapped in a complex structure, punctuated by stellar formation regions visible in the form of pink stains. The European space agency, which collaborates with NASA on the Hubble telescope, underlines the richness of these details captured in the most recent image.
Calmar galaxy, an identity shaped by technology
The nickname Calmar galaxy only appeared recently. It comes from the filamentous structure surrounding the galactic disc, evoking the tentacles of the marine animal. The most recent observations of the Hubble telescope highlighted these light extensions, combining data from several filters ranging from ultraviolet to the nearby infrared. The ACS and WFC3 cameras captured the image, which the researchers then retired using modern image processing techniques, revealing an unprecedented level of detail.
As Scitechdaily points out, this technical improvement does not only make shots. It also modifies our way of naming and perceiving celestial objects. This change of gaze illustrates how the observation tools influence scientific language, by adding visual metaphors to strictly digital or cataloged classifications.
A celestial object at the crossroads of history and science
Pierre Méchain discovered the galaxy in 1780 and first considered it as a simple nebula. Méchain quickly transmitted his observations to his colleague Charles Messier, who integrated him into his catalog thinking that it was a heap of stars. At the time, many astronomers confused these diffuse objects with comets, which they tracked methodically.
Phys.org recalls that it took more than a century to understand that these “spiral nebulae”, as they were then called, were actually very distinct galaxies from the Milky Way. This shift of interpretation marks one of the major turning point in modern astronomy: going from a universe centered on our galaxy to a cosmos populated by billions of others.
The SCI News site also returns to this initial confusion, specifying that the aspect of Messier 77 in a small telescope – a brilliant nucleus wrapped in a blurred halo – explained the identification error. The history of the Calmar galaxy thus reflects the limits of an era … but also the wonder that still arouses the conquest of heaven today.
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