This region of the galaxy glows with such intensity that it easily overwhelms the remaining regions. According to the new Webb telescope picture, not only it makes this particular area the brightest of the whole galaxy, but it also helps us see how black holes affect their host spirals.
Located 45 million light-years from Earth, Messier 77 or Squid Galaxy lies in the constellation of Cetus. This infrared image from Webb demonstrates several layers of dust, star formation, and high-energy emissions which make this spiral very interesting. It is a perfect case as a subject of study since being relatively close, it is also an active galaxy.
The main source of that radiation comes from the supermassive black hole located in the center of the Messier 77. Having a mass of eight million suns, the nucleus is fed with falling matter which, under its influence, moves rapidly into compact orbits while experiencing high pressures that produce huge amounts of electromagnetic emission. This is the reason why the supermassive black hole’s energy output becomes higher than the emission generated within the entire galaxy. Orange lines coming from the center of the Messier 77 are not really a part of the galaxy itself.
Those are the Webb’s famous diffraction spikes which emerge in the places with the brightest emission. They usually occur in the images of bright stars, but this time, the nucleus of the active galactic nucleus was bright enough to create this phenomenon. Such spikes are both visually beautiful and scientifically significant. They indicate the concentration of radiation energy in a narrow region, which corresponds with what we should expect from matter heated up near a supermassive black hole.
Despite the impressive energy output from its nucleus, Messier 77 is not only a black hole laboratory. As it can be seen from this mid-infrared Webb image, this galaxy is currently under construction. Near-infrared observations revealed its central bar, while starburst activity is traced within a ring that extends for over 6,000 light-years and occupies the place where the inner ends of the galaxy’s spiral arms converge. This area hosts numerous compact bubbles that form new stars in great numbers.
In addition to being the most luminous object in the galaxy, Messier 77 turns out to be rather dusty, as it is shown by the Webb telescope’s mid-infrared data. Blue streams and spots of dust trace where matter has collected, and also where some star clusters have cleared the way for themselves during their formation process. On top of that, Webb managed to observe the spiral arms that connect the dust ring and lead to a broad ring of hydrogen which extends further and gives this galaxy the name of Squid Galaxy due to its appearance.
As a black hole’s environment, this galaxy has additional significance since it was shown by a recent observation of the Circinus galaxy, conducted with the use of JWST interferometry. It allowed scientists to determine which of the two sources produces most of the dust the nucleus or outflows. Messier 77 is observed on a much larger scale, but the same principle applies here: black holes do not work in vacuum; their environments influence them just as well as vice versa. With the help of the Webb telescope’s infrared imaging, we can observe this process.