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.
Image & info via APOD
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