Spiral galaxy M-106 which has 4 arms and a massive black hole at its center.
Spiral galaxy M-106 which has 4 arms and a massive black hole at its center. M 106 is a relatively nearby spiral galaxy, a little over 20 million light-years away. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced one of the best views yet of nearby spiral galaxy Messier 106. Located a little over 20 million light-years away, practically a neighbour by cosmic standards, Messier 106 is one of the brightest and nearest spiral galaxies to our own. Despite its appearance, which looks much like countless other galaxies, Messier 106 hides a number of secrets. At its heart, as in most spiral galaxies, is a supermassive black hole, but this one is particularly active. Unlike the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, which pulls in wisps of gas only occasionally, Messier 106's black hole is actively gobbling up material. As the gas spirals towards the black hole, it heats up and emits powerful radiation. Part of the emission from the centre of Messier 106 is produced by a process that is somewhat similar to that in a laser - although here the process produces bright microwave radiation. As well as this microwave emission from Messier 106's heart, the galaxy has another startling feature - instead of two spiral arms, it appears to have four. Although the second pair of arms can be seen in visible light images as ghostly wisps of gas, as in this image, they are even more prominent in observations made outside of the visible spectrum, such as those using X-ray or radio waves. Unlike the normal arms, these two extra arms are made up of hot gas rather than stars, and their origin remained unexplained until recently.
Size: 3179px × 2690px
Photo credit: © B.A.E. Inc. / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 20, 106, arm, arms, astronomy, black, bright, color, emission, emissions, emit, emits, emitting, galaxy, gas, gases, gigantic, hole, hubble, huge, large, light, massive, messier, microwave, million, nasa, nearby, orange, photo, photograph, powerful, purple, radiation, red, rotate, rotates, rotating, space, spiral, super, supermassive, telescope, universe, vast, visible, years
