M77：有活跃核心的螺旋星系

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.

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M77：有活跃核心的螺旋星系
影像提供: Hubble, NASA, ESA; 图像处理与授权: Judy Schmidt

说明:邻近螺旋星系M77的中心发生了什么事？这个正向星系位在因希腊神话海怪而得名的鲸鱼座方向，近在约4千7百万光年远之处。 以这个估计距离来换算，这个壮丽宇宙岛的跨幅约莫有10万光年。亦名为NGC 1068的这个星系，有个小而明亮的核心，是探索活跃西佛型星系神秘的核心超大质量黑洞的天文学家，经常研究的标的。M77和它的活跃星系核，在X射线、紫外光、可光光、红外光和无线电波段都很明亮。这张M77的清晰主题影像，是由哈伯太空望远镜拍摄，其中最主宰性的可见辐射是氢发出的红光。这幅影像所呈现的细致蜿蜒螺旋臂，上头散布着不透光的尘埃云，以及拥挤在星系明亮核心附近的泛红恒星形成区。

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