Multitudes of stars resolved by NICI

Image showing the multitudes of stars resolved by NICI that Davidge used to study the evolution of M83, comparing the age of its stars in different parts of the galaxy’s disk. The bright object in the middle of the top panel is caused by the reference star that the adaptive optics (AO) system needs to sample ever-changing atmospheric distortions. M83 is about 16 million light years away. The angular extent of this H-band image is approximately 4 arcseconds by 10 arcseconds.