File:Sighting forbidden light (potw2351a).jpg
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Summary
[edit]DescriptionSighting forbidden light (potw2351a).jpg |
English: This whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core, known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN), so it is referred to as an active galaxy. Even more specifically, it is categorised as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies host one of the most common subclasses of AGN, alongside quasars. Whilst the precise categorisation of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby ones where the host galaxy remains plainly detectable alongside its central AGN, while quasars are invariably very distant AGNs whose incredible luminosities outshine their host galaxies.There are further subclasses of both Seyfert galaxies and quasars. In the case of Seyfert galaxies, the predominant subcategories are Type-1 and Type-2. These are differentiated from one another by their spectra — the pattern that results when light is split into its constituent wavelengths — where the spectral lines that Type-2 Seyfert galaxies emit are particularly associated with specific so-called ‘forbidden’ emission. To understand why emitted light from a galaxy could be considered forbidden, it helps to understand why spectra exist in the first place. Spectra look the way they do because certain atoms and molecules will absorb and emit light very reliably at very specific wavelengths. The reason for this is quantum physics: electrons (the tiny particles that orbit the nuclei of atoms and molecules) can only exist at very specific energies, and therefore electrons can only lose or gain very specific amounts of energy. These very specific amounts of energy correspond to certain light wavelengths being absorbed or emitted.Forbidden emission lines, therefore, are spectral emission lines that should not exist according to certain rules of quantum physics. But quantum physics is complex, and some of the rules used to predict it use assumptions that suit laboratory conditions here on Earth. Under those rules, this emission is ‘forbidden’ — so improbable that it’s disregarded. But in space, in the midst of an incredibly energetic galactic core, those assumptions don’t hold anymore, and the ‘forbidden’ light gets a chance to shine out towards us.[Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It appears to be almost circular and seen face-on, with two prominent spiral arms winding out from a glowing core. It is centred in the frame as if a portrait. Most of the background is black, with only tiny, distant galaxies, but there are two large bright stars in the foreground, one blue and one red, directly above the galaxy.] |
Date | 18 December 2023 (upload date) |
Source | Sighting forbidden light |
Author | ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick |
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Licensing
[edit]ESA/Hubble images, videos and web texts are released by the ESA under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided they are clearly and visibly credited. Detailed conditions are below; see the ESA copyright statement for full information. For images created by NASA or on the hubblesite.org website, or for ESA/Hubble images on the esahubble.org site before 2009, use the {{PD-Hubble}} tag.
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current | 09:00, 18 December 2023 | 2,771 × 3,464 (2.87 MB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of https://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/images/large/potw2351a.jpg via Commons:Spacemedia |
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Source | ESA/Hubble |
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Credit/Provider | ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick |
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Date and time of data generation | 06:00, 18 December 2023 |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop 25.2 (Windows) |
File change date and time | 16:58, 12 December 2023 |
Date and time of digitizing | 11:23, 9 August 2023 |
Date metadata was last modified | 17:58, 12 December 2023 |
Unique ID of original document | xmp.did:2a5fb7f0-678e-1e4e-9d3d-9b9481472f82 |
Keywords | MCG-01-24-014 |
Contact information |
ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr Baltimore, MD, 21218 United States |
IIM version | 4 |