ARTISTA

This elliptical galaxy was discovered in March 1781 and lies about 60 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin). The galaxy is part of the very heavily populated center of the Virgo Cluster, a cluster which consists of more than 1,000 galaxies.

This image does not show the whole galaxy but only its very interesting center with intriguing dust lanes that stretch across it. This is likely to be the best image of the region ever captured. Previous observations using Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) revealed a supermassive black hole in the center of Messier 84. Astronomers found the supermassive black hole by mapping the motion of the gas and the stars which are caught in its grip.

Next to its interesting center Messier 84 is also known for its supernovae. Two supernovae have been observed within the galaxy. The first, SN1957, was discovered in 1957 and another, called SN1991bg, was discovered in 1991.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Text credit: European Space Agency

Last Updated: June 11, 2015

Editor: Ashley Morrow

el dispensador dice:

hay un artista universal,

cuyo pincel es mágico,

escapado de un sueño,

sin arriba,

sin abajo,

que sabe de dimensiones,

de orden disperso,

y de señales en sus trazos...

te diré que este artista,

sabe de geometrías,

y de colores al paso,

dejando imágenes eternas,

para que cada uno imagine,

cómo serían allí sus pasos...

sus pinturas están ahí nomás,

como al alcance de la mano...

sólo debes atreverte,

y escalar por tus ideas,

como laderas de un helado...

y de pronto allí estarás,

como luz que ya ha viajado, 

descubriendo que el pensamiento,

suele ser tan sabio,

como para llevarte al ángulo distante,

y al otro inesperado...

y hasta comprabarás que al volver,

ni siquiera habrá pasado un rato.

JUNIO 11, 2015.-

Not all galaxies are neatly shaped, as this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 6240 clearly demonstrates. Hubble previously released an image of this galaxy back in 2008, but the knotted region, shown here in a pinky-red hue at the center of the galaxies, was only revealed in these new observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys.

NGC 6240 lies 400 million light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Holder). This galaxy has an elongated shape with branching wisps, loops and tails. This mess of gas, dust and stars bears more than a passing resemblance to a butterfly and a lobster.

This bizarrely-shaped galaxy did not begin its life looking like this; its distorted appearance is a result of a galactic merger that occurred when two galaxies drifted too close to one another. This merger sparked bursts of new star formation and triggered many hot young stars to explode as supernovae. A new supernova, not visible in this image was discovered in this galaxy in 2013, named SN 2013dc.   

At the center of NGC 6240 an even more interesting phenomenon is taking place. When the two galaxies came together, their central black holes did so, too. There are two supermassive black holes within this jumble, spiraling closer and closer to one another. They are currently only some 3,000 light-years apart, incredibly close given that the galaxy itself spans 300,000 light-years. This proximity secures their fate as they are now too close to escape each other and will soon form a single immense black hole.

European Space Agency

Image credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Last Updated: June 11, 2015

Editor: Ashley Morrow