Filaments of Active Galaxy NGC 1275 | APOD Image Credit: …

Filaments of Active Galaxy NGC 1275 | APOD Image Credit: …

Filaments of Active Galaxy NGC 1275 | APOD
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive,

ESA, NASA;

Processing & Copyright: Domingo Pestana

What keeps these filaments attached to this galaxy? The filaments persist in NGC 1275 even though

the turmoil of galactic collisions should destroy them. First, active

galaxy NGC 1275 is the central, dominant member of the large and

relatively nearby

Perseus Cluster of Galaxies. Wild-looking at visible wavelengths, the active galaxy is also a

prodigious source of

x-rays

and

radio

emission. NGC 1275 accretes

matter as entire galaxies fall into it, ultimately feeding a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s core. This composite image, recreated from

archival Hubble Space Telescope

data, highlights the resulting galactic debris

and filaments of glowing gas,

some up to 20,000 light-years long. Observations

indicate that the structures, pushed out

from the galaxy’s center by the black hole’s activity, are

held together by magnetic fields. Also known as Perseus A,

NGC 1275

spans over 100,000 light years and

lies about 230 million light years away.