Scientists from the European Space Agency have released images of Messier 106, a nearby spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. These stunning images of Messier 106, also known as NGC 4258, were taken using the groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope.
The space observatory carries a sophisticated near-infrared camera, allowing it to see farther and deeper than any other telescope can — and the farther into space we look, the older the objects we see. Light from objects that formed in the early universe undergoes what scientists call a “redshift” as they move away from our neighborhood in the cosmos, meaning that these wavelengths of light become stretched, moving from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum toward the invisible part, the infrared.
From the outside, galaxies appear dense and impenetrable because interstellar dust absorbs almost all the visible light we can see. But infrared light is less obstructed by dust and small particles, and because the James Webb Space Telescope can detect such light, it can penetrate regions that were previously invisible. In addition to the many groundbreaking observations made over the past several years, the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning observations of Messier 106 are a testament to its enhanced capabilities.
At the center of the newly imaged galaxy, the telescope clearly captures a supermassive black hole – usually found at the center of large galaxies. But what’s interesting about this one is the fact that it’s still very active.
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“Unlike the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, which only occasionally attracts filaments of gas, the black hole in Messier 106 is actively devouring material,” the ESA scientists said in a study published in the journal Nature Communications. press release“As gas falls toward the black hole, it heats up and emits powerful radiation.”
The galaxy’s bright core appears as a bright region in the image, with light emitted by dust and gas falling into the black hole. The galaxy’s “arms” can be seen as intertwined lines of glowing gas and dust in the image.
Blue regions are interstellar dust scattered throughout the galaxy, while orange indicates warmer dust and stronger reds represent cooler dust. The blue, green and yellow hues near the center of the image depict different gas distributions.
Messier 106 has two “invisible” arms that can only be seen in radio and X-ray wavelengths – these arms are made of hot gas rather than stars and are thought to be the result of black hole activity. “These arms are likely to be caused by jets of material generated by the violent turbulence of the gas around the black hole, creating a phenomenon similar to a wave crashing into the ocean when it hits a rock near the shore.”
Such observations will help astronomers better understand important galactic processes such as star formation and black hole physics, and thus the nature and history of the universe.
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