One of the biggest and closest spiral galaxies to our Milky Way has been photographed in unprecedented detail by a four-meter telescope in Arizona.
Stationed at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, the Nicholas U. Mayall telescope was used to capture M106, a majestic spiral galaxy close to the Big Dipper, which is currently riding high in the northern night sky.
Also known as NGC 4258, the galaxy is 20 million light-years from Earth and measures about 130,000 light-years across. Despite it being smaller in our night sky than a penny held at arm’s length, M106 can be glimpsed with a small telescope.
However, M106 contains a secret in the shape of an unusually energetic supermassive black hole at its heart.
Here it is, revealed in this fuller version of the spectacular image:
A popular target for amateur astronomers, Messier 106 can also be spotted with a small telescope in ... [+]
KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Acknowledgment: PI: M.T. Patterson (New Mexico State University) Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), M. Zamani & D. de Martin
The image shows M106 along with two dwarf galaxies that orbit around it; at the bottom-right is a small irregular galaxy called NGC 4248 and to the lower-left is another small galaxy called UGC 7356.
The telescope was pointed in the opposite direction from the center of the Milky Way and out into deep space beyond, so the image does contain stars from our own galaxy. It also includes background galaxies.
This new image, above, shows M106’s tenuous outer reaches, its warped central disk and some bright red streamers of gas at its heart. They’re the result of the constant spinning of a supermassive black hole at its center. It’s about 40 million times as massive as our Sun.
However, it’s not the first time this giant spiral galaxy has been photographed. Back in 2013 the same galaxy was imaged in detail partly by the Hubble Space Telescope:
In 2013 astrophotographer Robert Gendler used science data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ... [+]
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team); Acknowledgment: J. GaBany
This mosaic, above, which concentrates on the center of M106, was put together by astrophotographer Robert Gendler using science data from Hubble for the center combined with his own ground-based images, and those of Jay GaBany, of its outer spiral arms. Their images came via 12.5-inch and 20-inch telescopes at remote sites in New Mexico.
This image better reveals those red wisps of gas—an “extra pair of arms”—that shows the presence of that supermassive black hole.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
#News | https://sciencespies.com/news/in-photos-our-best-view-yet-of-a-glowing-galaxy-near-the-big-dipper-that-hides-a-supermassive-secret/
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