NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has released another image. This time, Messier 106 (NGC 4258), also known as NGC 4258, is the nearest spiral galaxy to us, located about 23 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici.
Messier 106 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies closest to us, and two supernovae were discovered in the galaxy in 1981 and 2014.
At the center of the galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Like most spiral galaxies, this black hole is very active and actively sucks in matter, unlike the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which only occasionally sucks in gas.
The image was captured using the Near Infrared Webcam (NIRCam), and the observation was part of a specific program to study the galaxy's “active galactic nucleus” (AGN).
An AGN is a region in the center of a galaxy with higher than normal spectral luminosity due to dust and gas falling into black holes. The blue areas in this image reflect the distribution of stars throughout the center of the galaxy. Orange areas indicate warmer dust. Shades of red indicate cooler dust. The blue-green, green, and yellow hues near the center of the image indicate the uneven distribution of gas throughout the region.
This galaxy has one distinguishing feature: it has two special “irregular” arms that can be seen in radio waves and X-rays. They are different from the regular arm.
These arms are made of hot gas rather than many stars. Astronomers believe these extra arms are formed by black hole activity. This is a feedback effect that has been seen in other galaxies as well.
This is likely due to the flow of material resulting from the violent eddies of gas around the black hole, causing a phenomenon similar to waves rising from the ocean when they collide with rocks near the shore.
Compiled from European Space Agency
“Reader. Infuriatingly humble coffee enthusiast. Future teen idol. Tv nerd. Explorer. Organizer. Twitter aficionado. Evil music fanatic.”