In the Center of Spiral Galaxy NGC 5033
Explanation:
What's happening in the center of spiral NGC 5033?
Many things -- some circular, some energetic, and some not well understood.
NGC 5033 is known as a
Seyfert galaxy
because of the great activity seen in its nucleus.
Bright
stars, dark
dust, and
interstellar gas
all swirl quickly around a
galactic center that appears slightly offset from a
supermassive black
hole.
This offset is thought to be the result of
NGC 5033 merging with another galaxy sometime in the past billion years.
The featured image
was taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope in 2005.
NGC 5033
spans about 100,000
light years and is so far away that we see it only as it existed about
40 million years ago.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
