Spectrum of gas disc in active galaxy M87
A schematic diagram of velocity measurements of a rotating disk of hot gas in the core of active galaxy M87.
The measurement was made by studying how the light from the disk is redshifted and blueshifted -- as part of the swirling disk spins in earth's direction and the other side spins away from earth.
Credit:Holland Ford, Space Telescope Science Institute/Johns Hopkins University; Richard Harms, Applied Research Corp.; Zlatan Tsvetanov, Arthur Davidsen, and Gerard Kriss at Johns Hopkins; Ralph Bohlin and GeorgeHartig at Space Telescope Science Institute; Linda Dressel and Ajay K.Kochhar at Applied Research Corp. in Landover, Md.; and Bruce Margon fromthe University of Washington in Seattle NASA/ESA
About the Image
About the Object
| Name: | IRAS 12282+1240, M 87, Messier 87, NGC 4486, Virgo Galaxy |
| Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole |
| Distance: | 55 million light years |
| Category: | Cosmology Quasars and Black Holes |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical H-alpha + Nii | 658 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |