M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
Explanation:
What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy M77?
The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million
light-years away toward the constellation of the Sea Monster
(Cetus).
At that estimated distance, this gorgeous
island universe is about 100 thousand light-years across.
Also known as
NGC 1068,
its compact and very bright core is
well studied by astronomers exploring the mysteries of
supermassive black holes in active
Seyfert galaxies.
M77 and its active core glows bright at
x-ray,
ultraviolet,
visible,
infrared, and
radio wavelengths.
The
featured sharp image of M77 was taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope and is dominated by the (visible)
red light
emitted by hydrogen.
The image shows details of the spiral's
winding spiral arms as traced by
obscuring dust clouds,
and red-tinted star forming regions close in to the galaxy's luminous core.
Astrophysicists:
Browse 2,100+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
