A white ring of stars surrounds the orangey center glow. Two reddish-brown arms of gas and dust emerge from opposite sides around the center. These arms become more bluish, with scattered trails of pink, at the ends.

C67 (NGC 1097)

Caldwell 67 is a Seyfert galaxy. Lurking at the very centre of the galaxy, a supermassive black hole 100 million times the mass of our Sun is gradually sucking in the matter around it. The area immediately around the black hole shines powerfully with radiation coming from the material falling in. The distinctive ring around the black hole is bursting with new star formation due to an inflow of material toward the central bar of the galaxy. These star-forming regions are glowing brightly thanks to emission from clouds of ionized hydrogen.

Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgment: E. Sturdivant