M106: 有奇特核心的螺旋星系

2024年10月9日

M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center
Image Credit & Copyright: Ali Al Obaidly

Explanation: What’s happening at the center of spiral galaxy M106? A swirling disk of stars and gas, M106‘s appearance is dominated by blue spiral arms and red dust lanes near the nucleus, as shown in the featured image taken from the Kuwaiti desert. The core of M106 glows brightly in radio waves and X-rays where twin jets have been found running the length of the galaxy. An unusual central glow makes M106 one of the closest examples of the Seyfert class of galaxies, where vast amounts of glowing gas are thought to be falling into a central massive black hole. M106, also designated NGC 4258, is a relatively close 23.5 million light years away, spans 60 thousand light years across, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici).

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M106: 有奇特核心的螺旋星系
影像提供与版权: Ali Al Obaidly

说明: 螺旋星系M106的核心发生了什么事？M106是个由螺旋状恒星盘和气体所聚成的星系，外观上的主要特征为两道明亮的螺旋臂及核心附近的黝黑尘埃带，如上面这张摄于科威特沙漠的主题影像所示。M106的核心在无线电波和X射线波段都很明亮，更有2道源自核心、长度和星系宽度相当的喷流。它异常明亮的核心，咸认源自大量掉入核心超大质量黑洞的云气所发出的辉光，而M106也是离我们最近的西佛星系之一。亦名为NGC 4258的M106，和我们相对邻近，只有2千350万光年远，大小则约为6万光年，用小望远镜就能在北天的猎犬座方向看见它。