April 25, 2024

Spiral Snapshot Hides an Astronomical Monstrosity

Are you thinking about discovering what Hubble is observing today? You can follow the area telescopes observations in real time at this link.

By ESA/Hubble
April 10, 2022

The spiral galaxy M91 fills the frame of this Wide Field Camera 3 observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Whilst archival Hubble information permitted astronomers to weigh M91s central black hole, more current observations have actually had other scientific goals. To do this, astronomers used Hubble to obtain ultraviolet and noticeable observations of galaxies already seen at radio wavelengths by the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Hubble Space Telescope picture of spiral nebula M91. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team
The spiral galaxy M91 fills the frame of this Wide Field Camera 3 observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. M91 lies around 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices and– as is obvious in this image– is a disallowed spiral galaxy. While M91s popular bar produces a spectacular stellar portrait, it likewise conceals a huge monstrosity. Like our own galaxy, M91 consists of a supermassive black hole at its center. A 2009 research study utilizing archival Hubble information found that this central black hole weighs someplace between 9.6 and 38 million times as much as the Sun.
Whilst archival Hubble data enabled astronomers to weigh M91s central black hole, more current observations have actually had other scientific goals. This observation belongs to an effort to develop a gold mine of huge information exploring the connections in between young stars and the clouds of cold gas in which they form. To do this, astronomers used Hubble to get ultraviolet and visible observations of galaxies currently seen at radio wavelengths by the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
Observing time with Hubble is a highly valued, and much sought-after, resource for astronomers. To get information from the telescope, astronomers first need to write a proposition detailing what they wish to observe and highlighting the clinical importance of their observations. These propositions are then anonymized and judged on their clinical benefit by a range of huge experts. This procedure is exceptionally competitive: following Hubbles newest call for proposals, only around 13% of the propositions were awarded observing time.