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> Central region of the galaxy NGC 1097
Central region of the galaxy NGC 1097
author: ESO/Novapix
reference: a-gax10-97002
Image Size 300 DPI: 12 * 14 cm
Colour-composite image of the central 5,500 light-years wide region of the spiral galaxy NGC 1097, obtained with the NACO adaptive optics on the VLT. More than 300 star forming regions - white spots in the image - are distributed along a ring of dust and gas in the image. At the centre of the ring there is a bright central source where the active galactic nucleus and its super-massive black hole are located. Located at a distance of about 45 million light-years in the southern constellation Fornax (the Furnace), NGC 1097 is a relatively bright, barred spiral galaxy seen face-on. At magnitude 9.5, and thus just 25 times fainter than the faintest object that can be seen with the unaided eye, it appears in small telescopes as a bright, circular disc.
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