Hubble Spies an Active Spiral
A bright swirl against the deep black of space, the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
IC 486 lies right on the edge of the constellation Gemini (the Twins), about 380 million light years from Earth. Classified as a barred spiral galaxy, it has a bright central bar-shaped structure from which its spiral arms fan out, wrapping around the core in a smooth, almost ring-like pattern.
Hubble’s keen eye reveals subtle color variations across the galaxy. The pale, bright center is dominated by older stars, while faint bluish regions in the surrounding disk trace pockets of newer star formation. Wisps of dust weave through the galaxy’s structure, gently obscuring light and tracing regions of increased molecular gas where new stars are likely to form.
At the center of the galaxy, a noticeable white glow eclipses the starlight surrounding it. This is light from the active galactic core (AGN) of IC 486, which is powered by a supermassive black hole more than 100 million times the mass of the Sun. Every sufficiently large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center, but some of these black holes are particularly voracious, gathering large quantities of gas and dust into swirling accretion disks from which they feed. The intense heat generated by the orbiting disk of material generates intense radiation, including X-rays, that can outshine everything else in the galaxy. In these cases, the galaxy is called an active galaxy, with an AGN at its center.
The data used to make this image comes from two separate observing programs — #17310 (PI: MJ Koss) and #15444 (PI: AJ Barth) — with similar goals: to study nearby active galaxies like IC 486 and record detailed, high-quality images of their central black holes and stars near the galaxy’s core. By combining Hubble’s cutting-edge imaging capabilities with large, comprehensive samples, these programs enable detailed comparisons of how stars, gas, dust and black holes interact in the centers of galaxies.
A main goal of this work is to understand how galaxies grow by linking their large-scale structures, such as bars and spiral arms, to the activity of their nuclei. To achieve this, research teams leverage both expert classifications and citizen science through Galaxy Zoo, with datasets that they will ultimately release to the public. In parallel, researchers are using the same images to test how well large language models and other machine learning techniques can replicate or extend human classifications, providing a new way to adapt studies of galaxy morphology to the larger studies by telescopes like Euclid and the Vera Rubin Observatory, and that NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will perform.
Beyond IC 486, distant galaxies in the background and stars in the foreground dot the image. Some stars appear with characteristic diffraction spikes, while the more diffuse reddish spots are from much more distant galaxies scattered across the cosmos.
Although it may appear calm and orderly, IC 486 is a dynamic system shaped by gravity and stellar evolution. Over millions of years, its structure will continue to evolve as stars are born, age and disappear, contributing to the continuing history of galactic life in the universe.
Media contact:
Claire Andreoli
from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
