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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Hubble captures the sharpest-ever picture of the heart of another galaxy - a black hole with the mass of 100 million suns

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an unforgettable view of the 'dark heart' of neighbouring galaxy Andromeda - and the enormous 'supermassive' black hole at its centre.

It's the sharpest-ever visible-light image of the nucleus of another galaxy.

Andromeda

The blue area at the centre of the galaxy shows young, bright stars forming near the supermassive black hole. Astronomers are still puzzling over how stars can form there - and think that this may happen in other spiral galaxies, such as our own Milky Way

The image, taken in visible light, shows the galactic centre, with blue stars clustering around the enormous black hole at the galaxy's centre - an object with the mass of 100 milion suns.

The blue stars near the black hole are 200 million years old - young, in astronomical terms, and must have formed near the black hole.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2085329/Hubble-captures-sharpest-picture-heart-galaxy--black-hole-mass-200-million-suns.html

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