"Day 11 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: Looking for Signs of a Black Hole. Spiral galaxy M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel, lies about 15 million light-years away from Earth. Recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope revealed the presence of highly ionized neon gas-evidence that suggests the presence of a long-sought supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy."
"ESA / Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo, and the FEAST JWST team Day 11 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: Looking for Signs of a Black Hole. Spiral galaxy M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel, lies about 15 million light-years away from Earth. Recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope revealed the presence of highly ionized neon gas-evidence that suggests the presence of a long-sought supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy. See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25."
Spiral galaxy M83, the Southern Pinwheel, lies about 15 million light-years from Earth. The James Webb Space Telescope observed highly ionized neon gas at the galaxy’s core. The neon ionization level matches signatures expected from energetic processes associated with accreting supermassive black holes. The neon detection provides indirect evidence pointing to a long-sought supermassive black hole at M83’s heart. The observations are part of a Space Telescope Advent Calendar feature that presents a new image daily through December 25. The imaging emphasizes JWST’s capability to probe galactic nuclei and trace faint, high-energy ionized gas.
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