A spiral with a fiery heart – NGC 7456
This striking barred spiral galaxy (SB(s)bc) in the constellation Grus lies about 24 million light-years away. It spans roughly 60,000 light-years across and about 3.2 × 2.5 arcminutes on the sky.
The prominent dust-laden bar channels gas into the core, triggering bursts of star formation and feeding a bright active nucleus. Reddish hydrogen-alpha regions mark stellar nurseries scattered throughout its spiral arms, while bluish patches trace vast clusters of young, hot stars. The faint asymmetry in the outer disk suggests a history of gravitational interactions.
NGC 7496 is particularly intriguing for its Seyfert-type active galactic nucleus, powered by a supermassive black hole consuming surrounding gas and dust. Its luminous core, partially obscured in visible light, betrays itself through intense radiation from deep within.
A galaxy with layers of activity — from newborn stars to a ravenous central engine — all woven into a graceful barred spiral form.
Imaged in LRGB Ha on my Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image acquisition and processing: Mike Selby
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