The Hubble Space Telescope, operated by NASA and ESA, unveils the radiant galactic core and stunning spiral arms in this fresh perspective of NGC 4102.
This Hubble image illustrates NGC 4102, an intermediate spiral galaxy located 55.4 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / G. Fabbiano.
NGC 4102 is positioned to the north of Ursa Major, approximately 55.4 million light-years distant.
This intermediate spiral galaxy was discovered on April 12, 1789, by the German-British astronomer William Herschel.
Also known as UGC 7096, NGC 4102 features an active galactic nucleus.
“Active galactic nuclei are luminous centers within galaxies, powered by supermassive black holes with masses millions to billions of times greater than that of the Sun,” stated Hubble astronomers.
“When these black holes attract surrounding gas, the intense gravitational forces cause the gas to heat up and emit light across various wavelengths, from X-rays to radio,” they added.
“NGC 4102 stands as a prime candidate for examining the interaction between active galactic nuclei and their host galaxies,” noted the researchers.
“These active galactic nuclei range from very powerful variants that consume significant amounts of matter and produce jets of charged particles to more subdued types that gently draw in gas and emit less intense light.”
“NGC 4102 is likely categorized among the latter; it falls within the Compton-thickness classification, indicating a dense gas environment surrounding its nucleus, and is identified as a low-ionization nuclear emission line region (LINER).”
“LINER galaxies are recognized by emission lines from weakly ionized elements and may be sustained by supermassive black holes gradually accumulating gas from their vicinity.”
Previous imaging of NGC 4102, derived from observations with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), was released in 2014.
“The latest imaging offers an enhanced view of the galaxy, utilizing data from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), which replaced WFPC2 in 2009, providing improved resolution and a larger field of view,” according to the researchers.
“These new observations are part of a program that integrates visible-light imagery from Hubble with X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, aimed at exploring NGC 4102 and its relationship with active galactic nuclei.”
Source: www.sci.news
