The active galaxy NGC 4945

K-band image obtained with NACO and the LGS of the active galaxy NGC 4945. The colour-code corresponds to intensity. Lurking in the very heart of this spiral galaxy is a supermassive black hole that is obscured at optical and infrared wavelengths, but which is one of the brightest in the local universe when observed in hard X-rays. The new LGS observations with NACO resolved the continuum in the central thousand light-years into a multitude of individual stars. The exquisite detail meant that it was possible to measure the magnitudes of the brightest of these stars. It suggests that they are red supergiant stars, which would have been born about 10 million years ago. Closer to the nucleus, the stars group into clusters, and become ever more closely packed. The huge luminosity of the central few clusters suggests that there are 10 to 100 such supergiant stars in each of these, packed into regions just a few parsecs across.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0727e
Type:Observation
Date de publication:13 juin 2007
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0727
Taille:2358 x 2349 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:NGC 4945
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Seyfert
Distance:13 million années lumière
Catégorie:Galaxies

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
847,9 Kio
JPEG taille écran
206,6 Kio

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
Infrarouge
K
Very Large Telescope
NACO