HomeAstronomy & SpaceAstronomyHubble captures gravitationally bound galaxies NGC 3227 and NGC 3226

Hubble captures gravitationally bound galaxies NGC 3227 and NGC 3226

The huge spiral galaxy NGC 3227 is seen wrapped in a chaotic gravitational dance with its companion, the elliptical galaxy NGC 3226, in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope view. The two stars, together known as Arp 94, are quite close together, orbiting the constellation Leo, the Lion, between 50 and 60 million light-years away. When you look closely at the area between the two galaxies, you can see weak tidal streams of gas and dust connecting them in their gravitational dance.

NGC 3227 is a Seyfert galaxy, which means it has a very active core. At the heart of Seyfert galaxies are supermassive black holes. As matter spirals into the black hole, huge volumes of radiation are released along the black hole’s rotating axis. establishing the galaxy’s active nucleus.

Hubble observed the motions of gas in the nuclei of luminous cluster galaxies as part of a study to measure black hole masses. In this illustration, the color red represents both visible red and near-infrared light wavelength

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