A dazzling new photo from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the bright spiral galaxy MCG-01-24-014, which is known to host an active galactic nucleus.
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This Hubble image shows MCG-01-24-014, an active spiral galaxy some 275 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick
MCG-01-24-014 is located approximately 275 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra.
Also known as LEDA 26656 and 2MASX J09242711-0634481, it has an extremely energetic core, known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN), so it is referred to as an active galaxy.
Even more specifically, MCG-01-24-014 is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy.
“Seyfert galaxies host one of the most common subclasses of AGN, alongside quasars,” Hubble astronomers said.
“Whilst the precise categorization of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby ones where the host galaxy remains plainly detectable alongside its central AGN, while quasars are invariably very distant AGNs whose incredible luminosities outshine their host galaxies.”
“There are further subclasses of both Seyfert galaxies and quasars,” they added.
“In the case of Seyfert galaxies, the predominant subcategories are Type-1 and Type-2.”
“These are differentiated from one another by their spectra — the pattern that results when light is split into its constituent wavelengths — where the spectral lines that Type-2 Seyfert galaxies emit are particularly associated with specific so-called ‘forbidden’ emission.”
“To understand why emitted light from a galaxy could be considered forbidden, it helps to understand why spectra exist in the first place,” the astronomers said.
“Spectra look the way they do because certain atoms and molecules will absorb and emit light very reliably at very specific wavelengths”
“The reason for this is quantum physics: electrons can only exist at very specific energies, and therefore electrons can only lose or gain very specific amounts of energy.”
“These very specific amounts of energy correspond to certain light wavelengths being absorbed or emitted.”
“Forbidden emission lines, therefore, are spectral emission lines that should not exist according to certain rules of quantum physics.”
“But quantum physics is complex, and some of the rules used to predict it use assumptions that suit laboratory conditions here on Earth.”
“Under those rules, this emission is ‘forbidden’ — so improbable that it’s disregarded.”
“But in space, in the midst of an incredibly energetic galactic core, those assumptions don’t hold anymore, and the ‘forbidden’ light gets a chance to shine out towards us.”
The color image of MCG-01-24-014 was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).
It is based on data obtained through two filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.
