2025年12月2日
M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker
Explanation: What’s happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million light-years away toward the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus). At that estimated distance, this gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand light-years across. Also known as NGC 1068, its compact and very bright core is well studied by astronomers exploring the mysteries of supermassive black holes in active Seyfert galaxies. M77’s active core glows bright at x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio wavelengths. The featured sharp image of M77 was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The image shows details of the spiral’s winding spiral arms as traced by obscuring red dust clouds and blue star clusters, all circling the galaxy’s bright white luminous center.
Free APOD Lecture in Phoenix: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 pm
Tomorrow’s picture: black hole trip
M77: 具有活跃核心的螺旋星系
影像提供: Hubble, NASA, ESA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker
说明: 邻近的螺旋星系M77中心究竟发生了什么事？这个正面朝向我们的星系位于鲸鱼座（Cetus）方向，距离我们只有4700万光年。根据这个估计距离，这个美丽的“岛屿宇宙”横跨约10万光年。M77也被称为NGC 1068，其紧凑而明亮的核心是天文学家深入研究活跃西佛星系中超大质量黑洞奥秘的重点。M77及其活跃的核心在X射线、紫外线、可见光、红外线和无线电波波段上都发出明亮的光芒。这张清晰的影像由哈勃太空望远镜拍摄。影像清晰地显示了螺旋星系蜿蜒的旋臂，旋臂被遮蔽的红色尘埃云和蓝色星团勾勒出来，所有这些都围绕着星系明亮的白色发光中心。
凤凰城免费APOD讲座: 12月10日（周三）晚上7点
明日的图片: black hole trip
