[Right] - A NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) view of the core of the barred spiral Seyfert galaxy NGC 5728 reveals a spectacular bi-conical beam of light that is ionizing the gas in the central region of the galaxy.
This image is being presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Berkeley, California by Dr. Andrew Wilson of the Space Telescope Science institute (STScI), Baltimore, Maryland.
Because NGC 5728 is an active galaxy, the core might contain a super massive black hole surrounded by a disk of gas, according to astronomers. This hot disk glows with ultraviolet light. However, a dense ring of gas blocks Hubble's view of the black hole and glowing accretion disk. The visible and ultraviolet light escapes along the open ends of the gas "donut" several thousands of light- years from the nucleus. The ring thus shapes the escaping ultraviolet light into two lighthouse beacon style "ionization cones."
The image was made September 4, 1992 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC) in PC mode. Exposures were obtained in the light of doubly-ionized oxygen and neutral hydrogen.
[Left] - A ground based image of the bared spiral galaxy NUC 5728, located 125 million light-years away in the constellation Libra
Credits
Right: Andrew S. Wilson (STScI)/NASARight Co-investigators: James A. Braatz (Univ. Of Maryland), Timothy M. Heckman (STScI), Julian H. Krolik (JHU), and George K. Miley (Leiden Observatory).
Left Courtesy of: Allan Sandage, Carnegie Observatories
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NUC 5728 |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
