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Anomalous Arms
| Title |
Anomalous Arms |
| Description |
In this composite image of spiral galaxy M106 (NGC 4258), optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey is shown as yellow, radio data from the Very Large Array appears as purple, X-ray data from Chandra is coded blue, and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope appears red. Two anomalous arms, which aren't visible at optical wavelengths, appear as purple and blue emission. |
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NGC 4258 (M106): Mysterious
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| Name |
NGC 4258 (M106): Mysterious Arms Revealed |
| Category |
Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies, Quasars & Active Galaxies |
| Release Date |
April 10, 2007 |
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M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a
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| Title |
M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Core |
| Explanation |
What's happening at the center of spiral galaxy M106? A swirling disk of stars and gas, M106 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m106.html ]'s appearance is dominated by two bright spiral arms and dark dust [ ftp://ftp.amara.com/papers/dustevolve.txt ] lanes near the nucleus. Bright newly formed stars near their outer tips distinguish the spiral arms in the above photograph [ http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/robserver.html ]. The core of M106 glows brightly in radio waves [ http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/ems/radio.html ] and X-rays [ http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/05250_A.html ] where twin jets have been found [ http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1995ApJ...440..181C ] running the length of the galaxy. An unusual central glow makes M106 one of the closest examples of the Seyfert class of galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981023.html ], where vast amounts of glowing gas are thought to be falling into a central massive black hole [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/black_holes.html ]. M [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/messier.html ]106, also designated NGC [ http://www.aspsky.org/ngc/ngc.html ] 4258, is a relatively close 25 million light years away, spans 30 thousand light years [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html ] across, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html ] of Canes Venatici [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Canes_Venatici.html ]. |
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