(ORDO NEWS) — Sometimes there are celestial bodies that defy simple classification. And the Hubble telescope found one of these objects.
The cosmos continues to surprise astronomers. And here an object that does not fit any definition caught their eye.
In science, we always try to classify things into understandable categories.
But sometimes scientists come across things that push the boundaries of these categories, demonstrating several distinctive characteristics at once.
This is the case of Z 229-15, a galaxy that combines the features of three types of objects at once.
Strange galaxy
The European Space Agency is working hard to figure out what this object is. Located 390 million light-years from Earth, it is an active and large spiral galaxy.
And it is this activity that makes the classification of this object so difficult. The fact is that it can be attributed to three types at once – the Seyfert galaxy, the quasar and the active galactic nucleus (AGN).
First of all, all these labels are related, but there is usually a clear distinction between them.
They are connected by a supermassive black hole at the center. In galaxies that receive one or more of these designations, the black hole is actively feeding on matter around it.
During this process, material approaching the black hole experiences incredible gravitational forces that heat it up due to friction. And he begins to shine with incredible energy.
When this happens, such an object is called an active galactic nucleus. The central region has a higher luminosity than ordinary galaxies. As expected, Z 229-15 has AGN. But that is not all.
When AGNs are so bright that they outshine the rest of the galaxy, they are classified as quasars.
Quasars are usually far away and look almost like a dot; this object is relatively close to the Earth, and therefore the central region of Z 9229-15 is blurred by the brightness of its core.
But you can clearly see the outskirts of the galaxy with bright spiral arms, so there is another definition that also fits this object.
This is the Seyfert Galaxy – a galaxy in which the supermassive black hole is very active, but the galaxy is clearly visible.
Thus, the researchers consider Z 229-15 a matryoshka of definitions. On the outside, it is the Seyfert galaxy, containing a quasar that, by definition, hosts an AGN.
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