Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Spiral galaxies together with irregular galaxies make up approximately 60% of the galaxies in the local Universe. However, despite their prevalence, each spiral galaxy is unique — like snowflakes, no two are alike. This is demonstrated by the striking face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6814, whose luminous nucleus and spectacular sweeping arms, rippled with an intricate pattern of dark dust, are captured in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image.
NGC 6814 has an extremely bright nucleus, a telltale sign that the galaxy is a Seyfert galaxy.
These galaxies have very active centres that can emit strong bursts of
radiation. The luminous heart of NGC 6814 is a highly variable source of
X-ray radiation, causing scientists to suspect that it hosts a supermassive black hole with a mass about 18 million times that of the Sun.
As NGC 6814 is a very active galaxy, many regions of ionised gas
are studded along its spiral arms. In these large clouds of gas, a
burst of star formation has recently taken place, forging the brilliant
blue stars that are visible scattered throughout the galaxy.
