【】
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a brilliant image of spiral galaxy NGC 3254, which has a particularly luminescent and active core emitting as much energy as the rest of the galaxy combined.
NGC 3254 is classified as a Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies are defined by their extremely active centers. Why are they so active? They each have a supermassive black hole in them.
The intense gravitational pull of supermassive black holes whip gases, dusts, stars, planetary bodies, and other material into a frenzy of high-speed collisions as they're yanked inward. As all that space stuff rips apart, smashes together, and spaghettifies, temperatures soar.
While it's true that the gravitational pull of black holes is so strong that even light can't escape, black holes could be described as messy eaters. As they eat (or "accrete") material, they also expend energy, which blasts outward as heat and light.
Hubble's image of the NGC 3254 galaxy is a composite of both visible and infrared light spectrums, which allows us to get a clear, detailed visual of what's going on. If other spectrums were used, the core would look even brighter.
NGC 3254 spins out in space roughly 118 million light-years away from Earth. It was first documented by astronomer and composer William Herschel in 1785.
SEE ALSO:The most stunning space photos of 2021 so farThe bright blue light that stands out in the top center of the Hubble image, toward the outer rim of the galaxy's spiral, is a star-exploding supernova first spotted in 2019. Although we're just seeing it now, the supernova actually happened roughly 118 million years ago.
While NGC 2154 is a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way, it is much more active. The Milky Way is not classified as a Seyfert galaxy. Only about 10% of galaxies may fit that Seyfert description — which may seem low, but there are billions, perhaps trillions of observable galaxies around us. That's a lot of highly active black holes.
Related Video: Mars will kill you in ways you'd never imagine
相关文章
Balloon fanatic Tim Kaine is also, of course, very good at harmonica
You know the old saying: the people want a president they can drink a beer with and they also want a2024-09-20Amazon accused Trump of bias, and now Microsoft's $10 billion JEDI cloud contract is on hold
Donald Trump does not like Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, and that dislike may hav2024-09-20'You' Season 2 is still the depraved thriller you fell in love with
"Altruism is dangerous," drawls Joe (Penn Badgley) in his reprised voiceover for YouSeason 2. That m2024-09-20United Airlines will not get rid of Biscoff cookies permanently, whew
Biscoff cookies are the perfect plane snack. They're sweet but not too sweet, they're crumbly but no2024-09-20Mom discovers security cameras hacked, kids' bedroom livestreamed
A mother in Houston, Texas woke up one morning to pretty much every parent's worst-case scenario. 。 "2024-09-20'The Office' children's book is here to inspire a whole new generation of fans
A whole new generation is about to fall in love with The Office thanks to a delightful new children'2024-09-20
最新评论