Astronomers Snap Most Detailed Image Yet of Messier 106 | Astronomy

Obtained using the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-m telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, the new image of Messier 106 shows not only the galaxy’s spiral arms, wisps of gas, and dust lanes at its core, but also the leisurely twisting bands of stars at its outer edges.

This image, taken with the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-m telescope, shows the spiral galaxy Messier 106. Two dwarf galaxies also appear in the image: NGC 4248 in the lower right and UGC 7356 in the lower left. Image credit: KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / M.T. Patterson, New Mexico State University / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / M. Zamani & D. de Martin.

Messier 106 is located over 20 million light-years away in the small northern constellation of Canes Venatici.

Also known as M106 or NGC 4258, the galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier’s observing assistant, Pierre Méchain, in 1781.

Messier 106 is similar in size and luminosity to our galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.

Though it measures more than 130,000 light-years from edge to edge, the vast distance between it and the Milky Way renders Messier 106 minuscule when seen from Earth.

Despite its tranquil appearance, Messier 106 has an unusually energetic inhabitant — a supermassive black hole with a mass of about 40 million solar masses.

“As well as consuming vast amounts of gas and dust, the active black hole has warped the surrounding disk of gas, churning up vast amounts of material,” said astronomers from NSF’s NOIRLab.

“This process has created the bright, red streamers of gas emanating from the heart of Messier 106, visible in the center of the new image from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-m telescope.”

“Accompanying Messier 106 is a pair of dwarf galaxies belonging to the same galaxy group,” they added.

“The loose collection of stars and dust visible in the bottom-right of the image is the small irregular galaxy NGC 4248.”

“Another small galaxy, UGC 7356, lies to the lower-left of Messier 106 and is dwarfed by its larger neighbor.”

“Messier 106 and its companions are framed by a variety of objects, from foreground stars to background galaxies.”

“Stars from our own Galaxy stud the image, easily identified by the criss-cross diffraction patterns surrounding them.”

“In the background, distant galaxies litter the image, some of them visible through the tenuous disk of Messier 106.”