2020 March 17
M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt
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.
Tomorrow’s picture: amazing rays
M77：有活躍核心的螺旋星系
影像提供: Hubble, NASA, ESA; 圖像處理與授權: Judy Schmidt
說明:鄰近螺旋星系M77的中心發生了什麼事？這個正向星系位在因希臘神話海怪而得名的鯨魚座方向，近在約4千7百萬光年遠之處。 以這個估計距離來換算，這個壯麗宇宙島的跨幅約莫有10萬光年。亦名為NGC 1068的這個星系，有個小而明亮的核心，是探索活躍西佛型星系神秘的核心超大質量黑洞的天文學家，經常研究的標的。M77和它的活躍星系核，在X射線、紫外光、可光光、紅外光和無線電波段都很明亮。這張M77的清晰主題影像，是由哈伯太空望遠鏡拍攝，其中最主宰性的可見輻射是氫發出的紅光。這幅影像所呈現的細緻蜿蜒螺旋臂，上頭散佈著不透光的塵埃雲，以及擁擠在星系明亮核心附近的泛紅恆星形成區。
明日的圖片: amazing rays
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