230319 - M106 (un-named) Spiral galaxy
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click image to enlarge
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ASTRO:
type=Seyfert 2 spiral galaxy const=Canes Venetici mag=8.4 dist=24 M ly size=135k ly IMAGE: location=EB Driveway BrtlCls=4 moon=8% WnCr exposure=CMOS OSC: 152x180s (7.6h), Gain100 EQUIPMENT: camera=ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro optics=ES102 w24mmEP afocal, FL(eff.)=1238mm, f/12.1 filter=Optolong L-Pro LPS mount=Celestron AVX EQ guiding=Orion 60x240mm, ZWO ASI224MC SOFTWARE: acqusition=Stellarium, APT, PHD2, processing=DSS, PhotoshopCC, RCAstro, StarNet++, APF-R, LrC |
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Messier 106, also known as NGC 4258, has yet to receive a common 'shape-name' by the International Astronomical Union, or "IAU". It is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici (the "Hunting Dogs"), and is located appx 24 M light-years from Earth.
Seen faintly in the image above, M106 has a slightly warped, thin disc which is viewed almost edge-on from Earth. It surrounds a central area, seen here as the bright, central part of the galaxy. This part of the galaxy has an estimated mass 40 M times that of our Sun. It is one of the largest and brightest galaxies considered as "near" to us here on Earth; it is similar in size and luminosity to the Andromeda Galaxy. A supermassive black hole at its core has an estimated mass 4 M times that of our Sun, and has been revealed through radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the nucleus. A massive Type II supernova was observed in M106 in May 2014.
M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert. While not visible in this image, the galaxy is known to possess one of the most striking features of this classification: an extra pair of arms. Most spiral galaxies only have one pair of arms, but M106 has an extra set. Unlike its other "normal" arms, these two extra arms are made up of hot, ionized hydrogen gas rather than stars; and, they appear to extend into the surrounding intergalactic medium on a plane that is roughly perpendicular to that of the galaxy. Astronomers attribute these ghostly flares to the black hole at the galaxy’s center. The extra arms appear to be an indirect result of the violent churning of matter around the black hole.
The ghostly 2nd pair of arms are clearly visible in this magnificent image captured in 2017 through the joint efforts of the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope Team, and amateur astronomer Robert Gendler. Gendler’s ground-based images were used to fill in pieces of the galaxy that Hubble did not observe.
M106 also has within it a water vapor megamaser (the equivalent of a laser operating in the microwave spectrum instead of visible light). By using spectral analysis, scientists are able to see the spectral line for water molecules in their gaseous state, and providing evidence for the presence of this dense, warm molecular gas within the bright, main disk of the galaxy. The water masers in M106 enabled the first case of a direct measurement of the distance to a galaxy, thereby providing an independent anchor for the cosmic distance ladder.
Seen faintly in the image above, M106 has a slightly warped, thin disc which is viewed almost edge-on from Earth. It surrounds a central area, seen here as the bright, central part of the galaxy. This part of the galaxy has an estimated mass 40 M times that of our Sun. It is one of the largest and brightest galaxies considered as "near" to us here on Earth; it is similar in size and luminosity to the Andromeda Galaxy. A supermassive black hole at its core has an estimated mass 4 M times that of our Sun, and has been revealed through radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the nucleus. A massive Type II supernova was observed in M106 in May 2014.
M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert. While not visible in this image, the galaxy is known to possess one of the most striking features of this classification: an extra pair of arms. Most spiral galaxies only have one pair of arms, but M106 has an extra set. Unlike its other "normal" arms, these two extra arms are made up of hot, ionized hydrogen gas rather than stars; and, they appear to extend into the surrounding intergalactic medium on a plane that is roughly perpendicular to that of the galaxy. Astronomers attribute these ghostly flares to the black hole at the galaxy’s center. The extra arms appear to be an indirect result of the violent churning of matter around the black hole.
The ghostly 2nd pair of arms are clearly visible in this magnificent image captured in 2017 through the joint efforts of the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope Team, and amateur astronomer Robert Gendler. Gendler’s ground-based images were used to fill in pieces of the galaxy that Hubble did not observe.
M106 also has within it a water vapor megamaser (the equivalent of a laser operating in the microwave spectrum instead of visible light). By using spectral analysis, scientists are able to see the spectral line for water molecules in their gaseous state, and providing evidence for the presence of this dense, warm molecular gas within the bright, main disk of the galaxy. The water masers in M106 enabled the first case of a direct measurement of the distance to a galaxy, thereby providing an independent anchor for the cosmic distance ladder.