Hubble Space Telescope image of a galaxy with an active core

According to RCO News Agency, The galaxy “NGC 4102” (NGC 4102) is located at a distance of 56 million light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation “Ursa Major”.

According to Universe Space Tech, Like the Milky Way, NGC 4102 is a barred spiral galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope image shows its spiral arms filled with star clusters and active star-forming regions.

However, NGC 4102 differs from the Milky Way in some ways. Unlike our galaxy, this galaxy is home to what astronomers call an “active galactic nucleus.” Active galactic nuclei are luminous centers fed by supermassive black holes. The mass of these black holes is millions and billions of times greater than our sun. When these black holes attract and pull gas from their surroundings, the gas heats up to the point where it begins to glow and emit light ranging from X-rays to radio waves.

NGC 4102 provides an ideal opportunity for astronomers to study how active galactic nuclei interact with their host galaxies. There are many types of active galactic nuclei, ranging from very powerful nuclei that consume a large amount of matter and emit powerful eruptions to quieter, fainter nuclei that absorb gas from the surrounding environment.

The galaxy photographed by Hubble probably belongs to the second group. The core of this galaxy is hidden under a dense layer of gas, and the emission lines of some weakly ionized elements can be seen in the spectrum. They may be powered by a supermassive black hole that collects gas from its surroundings.

The image of NGC 4102 was obtained during a program aimed at studying the effect of active nuclei on their galactic environment. In the future, this image will be combined with the results of the Chandra X-ray Observatory observations, allowing astronomers to obtain the largest amount of data.

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