The image shows how many galaxies are fighting for your attention. Some stand out in the foreground, while others are represented only by a distant radiance. But one still dominates - NGC 1316. The object has experienced a turbulent past, so the structure contains loops, arcs and rings, which can be displayed with great detail on the Very Large Telescope.
The Cluster of the Furnace is considered one of the richest and closest places with galaxies to the Milky Way. NGC 1316 formed after the merger of several individual galaxies. For the first time the features of its structure were discovered in the 1970s.
The mergers led to the inflow of gas, filling an unusual astrophysical object in the center - a supermassive black hole, which massively exceeds the solar one 150 million times. This cosmic monster creates powerful jets of high-energy particles that cause radiation in radio waves. Because of this, NGC 1316 ranks 4th in terms of brightness among radio sources. There are 4 Ia-type supernovae living on the territory of the galaxy. These are important objects for scientists, since their brightness allows using stars as markers of distance. In a specific case - 60 million years. These “candles” help to fix the expansion of the Universe.
The picture was taken with a 256 megapixel camera of the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory.
