#cetus a

[quiltofstars]

The Squid Galaxy (M77, bottom) and NGC 1055 (top) // maxchess

[zespaceblog]

Random Messier of the Day, M77 Cetus A.

M77 is a barred spiral galaxy in the Constellation of Cetus, 47 Million light years from Earth.

It's known as a type 2 Seyfert Galaxy, a galaxy with a very bright and active core, but not bright enough to conceal the galaxy structure.

The galaxy is a strong X-Ray emitter, from the central region and is thought to be an active supermassive black hole, twice the size of Sag A* at the centre of our Milky Way.

Active black holes simply means it has a large inflow of matter which is often stripped down and released as radiation from the poles of the black hole. Those galaxies that align up with us, appear very bright in X-Rays.

Above is a composite of the visual and X-Ray data, showing that it is emanating mostly from the central region.

[quiltofstars]

The Squid Galaxy, M77 // Bill Dirks

Also known as Cetus A, this galaxy has an active galactic nucleus, a black hole currently swallowing up hot, highly ionized gas. This is the nearest such galaxy to Earth which makes it one of the most studied. The black hole at the center weighs in at about 15 million times that of the Sun but less than 12 light years in diameter!

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The Squid Galaxy, M77 // Cfreerksen

The Squid Galaxy is one of the largest galaxies in Messier's catalog with a diameter of about 170,000 light years. It is located about 47 million light years away. This beautiful barred spiral galaxy was discovered by Pierre Méchain (1744-1804) in 1780, but both he and Messier believed it to be a star cluster.

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The Squid Galaxy, M77 // Ken