Previous
abstract 
Next
abstract
The inner disk and nucleus of the Virgo Cluster giant Sc spiral galaxy M100 were observed with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the {\it Hubble Space Telescope} as an Early Release Observation. The Planetary Camera 2 CCD obtained images of the center of the galaxy in the F435W, F555W, and F702W filters with a resolution of about 0.05 arcsec, corresponding to a linear scale of 4(D/15 Mpc) pc. These now familiar images might initially be mistaken for a full-field view of an Sc galaxy due to the presence of many stellar and semi-stellar objects and a pronounced two-arm spiral dust pattern. A closer examination reveals three major structural zones in the center of M100: (1) The outer nuclear disk contains a nearly complete ring of young, luminous stars and star clusters as well as the dominant 2-arm dark lane spiral pattern. (2) In the inner quarter of the disk, luminous semi-stellar objects are rarer and the organized dust pattern breaks up into a complex of smaller filaments. (3) A distinct nucleus and probably small nuclear bulge are located at the center of the galaxy, and are also associated with a possible fainter radial dust lane pattern. We will present an initial exploration of the properties of these major structural components as well as a brief discussion of the relationship between the nuclear region and larger scale structure of this galaxy.
