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Messier 77

All articles tagged with #messier 77

science9 days ago•2 min saved

Webb Telescope Reveals Fiery Core and Hidden Bar in the Squid Galaxy

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures Messier 77, the Squid Galaxy, in infrared to reveal its blazing central active galactic nucleus powered by an 8‑million‑solar‑mass black hole, plus a hidden straight central bar bisecting the spiral arms and a bright starburst ring fed by gas and dust. The edge-on–like, dust-veiled core shines through in MIRI imagery, while diffraction spikes are instrument effects. At about 45 million light-years away, this nearby galaxy offers rich detail and ongoing puzzles, including a surprisingly weak gamma‑ray signal but notable neutrino activity.

via Futurism|

#accretion-disk #active-galactic-nucleus #james-webb-space-telescope

space15 days ago•11 min saved

Webb Exposes Messier 77’s Energetic Core

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a striking new image of Messier 77, revealing a brilliantly bright galactic core powered by a supermassive black hole (about eight million solar masses) and a gas- and dust-rich disc fueling active star formation. Webb’s near-infrared view highlights a central bar and a luminous starburst ring, while the mid-infrared reveals cooler dust extending the view beyond visible light. The orange rays are diffraction spikes—optical artifacts from Webb’s hexagonal mirrors and support structure, not real features. Messier 77 also shows outer hydrogen filaments and a faint ring indicating extended star-forming activity, earning it the nickname Squid Galaxy. The image comes from observing program #3707, designed to study star formation in massive nearby galaxies and to build a rich dataset for future research.

via Interesting Engineering|

#active-galactic-nucleus #diffraction-spikes #james-webb-space-telescope

science17 days ago•4 min saved

Webb Telescope Reveals Distant Galaxy's Luminous Core Fueled by a Feeding Black Hole

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has released a sharp infrared image of Messier 77, a spiral galaxy 45 million light-years away, exposing its ultra-bright core powered by an actively feeding supermassive black hole (~8 million solar masses). Infrared light penetrates dust, letting Webb reveal how gas and dust are drawn in and heated to extreme temperatures as they spiral toward the event horizon, demonstrating Webb's transformative ability to study active galactic nuclei.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#astronomy #black-hole #james-webb-space-telescope