(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, December 23, 2019: This swirling mass of celestial gas, dust, and stars is a moderately luminous spiral galaxy named ESO 021-G004, located just under 130 million light-years away.
This galaxy has something known as an active galactic nucleus.
While this phrase sounds complex, this simply means that astronomers
measure a lot of radiation at all wavelengths coming from the centre of
the galaxy. This radiation is generated by material falling inwards into
the very central region of ESO 021-G004, and meeting the behemoth
lurking there — a supermassive black hole. As material falls towards this black hole it is dragged into orbit as part of an accretion disc;
it becomes superheated as it swirls around and around, emitting
characteristic high-energy radiation until it is eventually devoured.
The data comprising this image were gathered by the Wide Field Camera 3 aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Rosario et al.
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