The Hubble Space Telescope, despite being an instrument that is more than 30 years old, does not lose its validity for space exploration. Data from this NASA and ESA observatory managed to record as matter falls onto a black hole 85 million light-years away.
“The matter that falls into a supermassive black hole creates a brilliant glow in the heart of the galaxy,” explain the scientific disseminators of the account. AstroF3. “When dust and gas fall into the black hole, the matter heats up and emits light across the entire electromagnetic spectrum,” they added.
The description of the image published by the space agencies reads as follows: A bright, white, fuzzy galaxy glows near the lower left corner with reddish dust lanes below its center. A smaller spiral galaxy shines just above it, against a black background of space.
The specific region captured is scientifically known as NGC 5283. It is a barred spiral galaxy found in the constellation Centaurus, at a distance of approximately 85 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop in 1826.
NGC 5283 is characterized by its spiral structure, with a distinctive central bar running through its nucleus and spiral arms extending from the bar. This galaxy belongs to the Centaurus A/M83 group of galaxies, which also includes the famous Centaurus A galaxy (NGC 5128) and the spiral galaxy M83.
Like many galaxies, NGC 5283 is home to a large number of stars, as well as regions of active star formation where new stars are being spawned. It may also contain star clusters, nebulae, and other interesting astronomical structures.