The Circinus Galaxy is a Seyfert galaxy in the constellation of Circinus. It is located 4 degrees below the Galactic plane and is heavily obscured by dust and stars in our line of sight. This makes Circinus very difficult to image. At a distance of 14 million light years, it is one of the closest major galaxies to the Milky Way. The galaxy is undergoing massive changes, as rings of gas are likely being ejected from the galaxy.
Seyfert galaxies such as Circinus are themselves part of a larger class of objects called Active Galactic Nuclei or AGN. AGN have the ability to remove gas from the centers of their galaxies by blowing it out into space at extreme speeds. Astronomers studying the Circinus galaxy have seen evidence of a powerful AGN at the center of this galaxy.
Imaged in LRGB on our CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Obstech, Chile
Integration Time: 29 hours
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson