Viewed face-on,
grand spiral galaxy NGC 5643 has a festive appearance in this colorful cosmic
portrait. Some 55 million
light-years distant, the galaxy extends for over 100,000 light-years, seen
within the boundaries of the southern constellation Lupus. Its inner 40,000
light-years are shown
in sharp detail in this composite of Hubble Space Telescope image data. The
galaxy’s magnificent spiral arms wind from a yellowish central region dominated
by light from old stars, while the spiral arms themselves are traced by dust
lanes, young blue stars and reddish star forming regions. The bright compact core of
NGC 5643 is also known as a strong emitter of radio waves and X-rays. In fact, NGC 5643 is one of the closest examples of
the Seyfert class of active galaxies, where vast amounts of dust
and gas are thought to be falling into a central massive black hole.
Image & info via APOD
Image
Credit: ESA / Hubble & NASA
Source: Grand Spiral
NGC 5643 – Scents of Science
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