Within the Fingers of NGC 1097

Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 shines in southern skies, about 45 million gentle-years away within the heated constellation Fornax. Its blue spiral hands are mottled with pinkish star forming regions on this brilliant galaxy portrait. They look to own wrapped spherical a tiny partner galaxy above and correct of heart, about 40,000 gentle-years from the spiral’s brilliant core. That is now not NGC 1097’s greatest irregular characteristic, though. This very deep publicity hints of faint, mysterious jets, seen to boost smartly beyond the bluish hands. In actuality, four faint jets are within the close identified in optical pictures of NGC 1097. The jets tag an X centered on the galaxy’s nucleus, nonetheless presumably build now not originate there. As an alternative, they’ll be fossil star streams, trails left over from the rep and disruption of a important smaller galaxy within the big spiral’s worn previous. A Seyfert galaxy, NGC 1097’s nucleus also harbors a supermassive gloomy gap.