Una Galaxia Llena de Sorpresas – NGC 3621 carece de protuberancias pero tiene tres agujeros negros centrales
Esta fotografía del Very Large Telescope (VLT) de ESO, muestra una galaxia verdaderamente notable, conocida como NGC 3621. Para empezar, es una galaxia de disco puro. Como otras espirales, tiene un disco plano permeado por oscuras nubes de material y con prominentes brazos espiral donde se están formando estrellas nuevas en cúmulos (los puntos azules que se ven en la fotografía). Pero mientras la mayoría de las galaxias espiral tienen una prominencia central – un gran grupo de estrellas viejas apretadas en una región compacta, esferoidal – NGC 3621 no la tiene. En esta fotografía, está claro que simplemente hay un abrillantamiento hacia el centro, pero ningún bulto como el de NGC 6744 (eso1118), por ejemplo.
NGC 3621 también es interesante puesto que se piensa que tiene un agujero negro super masivo activo en su centro que está envolviendo materia y produciendo radiación. Esto es bastante inusual porque la mayoría de estos así llamados núcleos galácticos activos existen en galaxias con prominentes protuberancias. En este caso particular, se piensa que el agujero negro super masivo tiene una masa relativamente pequeña, de alrededor de 20.000 veces la del Sol.
Otro rasgo interesante es que se piensa que también hay dos agujeros negros más pequeños con masas de algunos miles de veces la del Sol, cerca del núcleo de la galaxia. Por lo tanto, NGC 3621 es un objeto extremadamente interesante que, a pesar de no tener una protuberancia central, tiene un sistema de tres agujeros negros en su región central.
Esta galaxia está ubicada en la constelación de Hydra (La Culebra de Mar) y puede verse con un telescopio de tamaño medio. Esta fotografía, tomada usando filtros B, V e I con el instrumento FORS1 en el poderoso VLT, muestra sorprendente detalle en este raro objeto y también revela una multitud de galaxias en segundo plano. Una cantidad de brillantes estrellas en primer plano que pertenecen a nuestra propia Vía Láctea también son visibles.
Crédito:ESO
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw1148a |
| Idioma: | es-cl |
| Tipo: | Observación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 28 de Noviembre de 2011 a las 10:00 |
| Tamaño: | 2044 x 2044 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | NGC 3621 |
| Tipo: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral Local Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole |
| Distancia: | 22 millón años luz |
| Constellation: | Hydra |
Fondo de pantalla
Coordenadas
| Position (RA): | 11 18 16.56 |
| Position (Dec): | -32° 48' 50.91" |
| Field of view: | 6.81 x 6.81 arcminutes |
| Orientación: | El norte está a 89.8° a la izquierda de la vertical |
Colores y filtros
| Banda | Telescopio |
|---|---|
| Óptico B | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
| Óptico V | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
| Infrarrojo I | Very Large Telescope FORS1 |
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