Hubble captures active spiral galaxy IC 486 in a new image.

Hubble released a new image of the barred spiral galaxy IC 486, about 380 million light-years away, which shows a bright active nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole of more than 100 million solar masses.

Hubble Space Telescope captured a new image of the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 set against deep space. The galaxy lies near the edge of the constellation Gemini at about 380 million light-years from Earth. Its bar and ring-like spiral arms are visible, with a pale center of older stars and faint bluish regions that mark more recent star formation. A bright central glow indicates an active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole weighing more than 100 million times the Sun. Key details: - IC 486 is classified as a barred spiral galaxy located near the constellation Gemini, roughly 380 million light-years away. - The galaxy shows a bright central active galactic nucleus (AGN) associated with a supermassive black hole of over 100 million solar masses. - Hubble imaging reveals older stars in the pale center, bluish patches of recent star formation in the disk, and dust lanes that trace regions of molecular gas. - The image combines data from Hubble observing programs #17310 (PI: M. J. Koss) and #15444 (PI: A. J. Barth). - Research teams are using expert classifications and Galaxy Zoo citizen science and are testing machine learning and large language models on these images. - The frame also contains foreground stars, some with diffraction spikes, and more distant background galaxies. Summary: The image illustrates links between a galaxy's large-scale structure and activity at its center, showing how bars, arms, stars, gas, dust, and a central AGN appear together. Teams plan to release the associated datasets, and researchers will use the images to compare human classifications with machine learning and language-model approaches ahead of larger survey work by Euclid, the Vera Rubin Observatory, and NASA's Roman Space Telescope.