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Dark Rays in IC 5063
This Hubble Space Telescope image of the heart of nearby active galaxy IC 5063 reveals a mixture of bright rays and dark shadows coming from the blazing core, home of a supermassive black hole.
Astronomers suggest that a ring of dusty material surrounding the black hole may be casting its shadow into space.
According to their scenario, this interplay of light and shadow may occur when light blasted by the monster black hole strikes the dust ring, which is buried deep inside the core. Light streams through gaps in the ring, creating the brilliant cone-shaped rays. However, denser patches in the disk block some of the light, casting long, dark shadows through the galaxy.
This phenomenon is similar to sunlight piercing our Earthly clouds at sunset, creating a mixture of bright rays and dark shadows formed by beams of light scattered by the atmosphere.
However, the bright rays and dark shadows appearing in IC 5063 are happening on a vastly larger scale, shooting across at least 36,000 light-years.
IC 5063 resides 156 million light-years from Earth.
The observations were taken on March 7 and Nov. 25, 2019 by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.20:52:02.34
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.-57:04:07.61
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Pavo
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.Approximately 160 million light-years
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.Image is approximately 1.2 arcminutes across (54,000 light-years)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator. - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.ACS/WFC & WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.11 November 2019 and 7 March 2019
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F673N, F763M, F814W
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.IC 5063
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Seyfert galaxy
- Release DateNovember 19, 2020
- Science ReleaseHubble Catches ‘Shadow Play’ of the Disk Around a Black Hole
- Credit
These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS and ACS instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample specific wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F673N Green: 763M Red: F814W
Related Images & Videos
Dark Rays in IC 5063 (Annotated)
This Hubble Space Telescope image of the heart of nearby active galaxy IC 5063 reveals a mixture of bright rays and dark shadows coming from the blazing core, home of a supermassive black hole. Astronomers suggest that a ring of dusty material surrounding the black hole may be...
Scenario for Mysterious Light Beams from Active Galaxy
This illustration depicts one possible explanation for the mysterious bright rays and dark shadows observed emanating from the blazingly bright center of nearby active galaxy IC 5063. In this scenario, a dusty disk surrounding the monster black hole is casting its shadow into...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
