(Press-News.org) Contact information: Nicky Guttridge
nguttrid@partner.eso.org
49-893-200-6855
ESA/Hubble Information Centre
A galaxy with 2 hearts
This new Hubble image shows the spiral galaxy Messier 83, otherwise known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. One of the largest and closest barred spirals to us, this galaxy is dramatic and mysterious; it has hosted a large number of supernova explosions, and is thought to have a double nucleus lurking at its core.
Messier 83 is not one to blend into the background. Located some 15 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Serpent), it is one of the most conspicuous galaxies of its type in our skies. It is a prominent member of a group of galaxies known as the Centaurus A/M83 Group, which also counts dusty Centaurus A (heic1110 - http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1110/) and irregular NGC 5253 (potw1248a - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1248a/) as members.
Spiral galaxies come in a range of types depending on their appearance and structure -- for example, how tightly wound their arms are, and the characteristics of the central bulge. Messier 83 has a "bar" of stars slicing through its centre, leading to its classification as a barred spiral. The Milky Way also belongs to this category.
These bars are thought to act a bit like a funnel, channelling gas inwards towards the galaxy's centre. This gas is then used to form new stars and also to feed the galaxy's central black hole, explaining why many barred spirals -- including Messier 83 -- have very active and luminous central regions.
However, Messier 83's centre is mysterious and unusual; the supermassive black hole at its heart is not alone. This striking spiral displays a phenomenon known as a double nucleus -- a feature that has also been spotted in the Andromeda Galaxy (heic0512 - http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic0512/), the nearest spiral galaxy to us. This does not mean that Messier 83 contains two central black holes, but that its single supermassive black hole may be ringed by a lopsided disc of stars, which orbits around the black hole and creates the appearance of a dual core [1].
As well as this double nucleus, Messier 83 has hosted quite a few supernova explosions -- six in total that we have observed (SN 1923A, SN 1945B, SN 1950B, SN 1957D, SN 1968L, and SN 1983N). This number is matched by only two other galaxies: Messier 61 (potw1324a - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1324a/) which also has six, and NGC 6946 (opo9910e - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9910e/), which tops the list with nine. As well as these explosions, almost 300 supernova remnants -- the older leftovers from exploded stars -- have been found within Messier 83, detected using the data that make up this image. These observations are being used to study the life cycle of stars. As well as these old remnants, some 3000 star clusters have been identified in Messier 83, some of which are very young at under 5 million years old.
This mosaic image uses observations taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. It shows the galaxy in full, with dark dust lanes, fiery red patches of gas, and bright blue patches of recent star formation speckled across the spiralling arms. Although it looks sprawling, Messier 83 is just under half of the size of the
Milky Way.
This new image is being released today, 9 January 2014, at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, USA.
INFORMATION:
Notes
[1] This central region is a very bizarre place. Neither of the two components making up the double nucleus are actually aligned with the galaxies kinematic centre -- the region inferred to be the central part of Messier 83 from the motions of the stars within the galaxy. The "second nucleus" is not seen directly, but is detected by studying how mass within the galaxy is distributed.
Notes for editors
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
More information
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and William Blair (Johns Hopkins University)
Links
NASA release - http://hubblesite.org/news/2014/04
Images of Hubble - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/category/spacecraft/
Contacts
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Tel: +1-410-338-4514
Email: villard@stsci.edu
Nicky Guttridge
ESA/Hubble Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49-89-3200-6855
Email: nguttrid@partner.eso.org
A galaxy with 2 hearts
2014-01-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Inappropriate antibiotic use in emergency rooms not decreasing in adults
2014-01-09
Inappropriate antibiotic use in emergency rooms not decreasing in adults
An analysis of emergency room (ER)visits over a 10-year period finds that while inappropriate antibiotic use is decreasing in pediatric settings, it continues to remain a problem in adults, ...
New study: US power plant emissions down
2014-01-09
New study: US power plant emissions down
Power plants that use natural gas and a new technology to squeeze more energy from the fuel release far less of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than coal-fired power plants do, according to a new analysis accepted ...
Scientists uncover new target for brain cancer treatment
2014-01-09
Scientists uncover new target for brain cancer treatment
A new study is giving researchers hope that novel targeted therapies can be developed for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and most aggressive form of brain cancer, after demonstrating for ...
Remission from depression much slower in adults who were abused in childhood
2014-01-09
Remission from depression much slower in adults who were abused in childhood
TORONTO, ON – Remission from depression is delayed in adults who have experienced childhood physical abuse or parental addictions, a new study by University of Toronto researchers has found. ...
Improved regulations to protect human research subjects would reduce burden on IRBs while better protecting study participants
2014-01-09
Improved regulations to protect human research subjects would reduce burden on IRBs while better protecting study participants
WASHINGTON – Proposed updates to federal regulations that protect human research subjects need additional clarification when applied to the ...
Minimalistic raiding parties of a slave-hunting ant crack castles
2014-01-09
Minimalistic raiding parties of a slave-hunting ant crack castles
A group of scientists from the University of Mainz and the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz, headed by Susanne Foitzik and Bernhard Seifert, recently described a new slave-making ant ...
Researchers find comparable long-term outcomes between diastolic and systolic heart failure patients
2014-01-09
Researchers find comparable long-term outcomes between diastolic and systolic heart failure patients
(Boston) – A new study by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) found comparable long-term outcomes ...
Genetic testing to produce more offspring
2014-01-09
Genetic testing to produce more offspring
Scientists discover cause of infertility in cattle
The Fleckvieh is a breed of cattle that originated in the Alpine region. A robust animal, it is now found on every continent, with an estimated worldwide ...
Minorities and poor have more advanced thyroid cancers when diagnosed, UCLA study shows
2014-01-09
Minorities and poor have more advanced thyroid cancers when diagnosed, UCLA study shows
Black patients fare worst; Asians, Hispanics survive longest with disease
UCLA researchers have found that minority patients and those ...
Novel potential approach to prevent infection in patients with liver failure
2014-01-09
Novel potential approach to prevent infection in patients with liver failure
Findings published in the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases journal, Hepatology, indicate that infection, the commonest cause of mortality in patients with acute liver failure (ALF), ...