Glowing Galaxies in Infrared and Ultraviolet

May 25, 2022 | Daily Space, Galaxies

IMAGE: This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of IC 4271, also known as Arp 40, is a curious pair of spiral galaxies some 800 million light-years away. The smaller galaxy is superimposed on the larger one, which is a type of active galaxy called a Seyfert galaxy. CREDIT: NASA, ESA, and B. Holwerda (University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.); Image processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America)

Here’s a pretty picture. The larger of the two galaxies in this picture, collectively called IC 4271, is a Seyfert galaxy. Named after Carl Seyfert, these are galaxies with a black hole in the center, making them glow brighter than other galaxies without black holes.

Specifically, the larger part of IC 4271 is a type 2 Seyfert because it glows in mostly infrared and optical light. This image is from a survey where astronomers looked at pairs of galaxies but only those where one is in front of the other as viewed from Earth. Hubble‘s Wide Field Camera 3 is capable of seeing ultraviolet through infrared wavelengths. In this image, ultraviolet light is colorized violet while near-infrared is shown in red.

More Information

NASA Goddard image release

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