Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an amazing new photo of the spiral galaxy NGC 4941.
This Hubble image shows NGC 4941, a spiral galaxy some 67 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. The color image is composed of near-infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Six filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.
NGC 4941 is located approximately 67 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Virgo.
Also known as AGC 530009, IRAS 13016-0516, LEDA 45165 or UGCA 321, the galaxy is 60,000 light-years across.
It was discovered by the German-British astronomer William Herschel on April 24, 1784.
NGC 4941 is a member of two groups of galaxies: the NGC 4941 group and the NGC 4697 group.
“Because this galaxy is nearby, cosmically speaking, Hubble’s keen instruments are able to pick out exquisite details such as individual star clusters and filamentary clouds of gas and dust,” the Hubble astronomers said.
“The Hubble data used to construct this image were collected as part of an observing program that investigates the star formation and stellar feedback cycle in nearby galaxies.”
“As stars form in dense, cold clumps of gas, they begin to influence their surroundings.”
“Stars heat and stir up the gas clouds in which they are born through winds, starlight, and — eventually, for massive stars — by exploding as supernovae.”
“These processes are collectively called stellar feedback, and they impact the rate at which a galaxy can form new stars.”
“As it turns out, stars aren’t the only entities providing feedback in NGC 4941,” they added.
“At the heart of this galaxy lies an active galactic nucleus (AGN) — a supermassive black hole feasting on gas.”
“As the black hole amasses gas from its surroundings, the gas swirls into a superheated disc that glows brightly at wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum.”
“Similar to stars — but on a much, much larger scale — active galactic nuclei shape their surroundings through winds, radiation, and powerful jets, altering not only star formation but also the evolution of the galaxy as a whole.”
