Circinus Galaxy Research Paper

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The Circinus Galaxy (ESO 97-G13) is a Seyfert galaxy[2] in the Circinus constellation - and one of the closest to the Milky Way[3] (see also NGC 185). It is only 4 degrees below the Galactic plane, and 13 million light-yearsaway. The galaxy is undergoing tumultuous changes, as rings of gas are being ejected from the galaxy. The outermost ring is 700 light-years from the center of the galaxy and the inner ring is 130 light-years out. Although the Circinus galaxy can be seen using a small telescope, it was not noticed until 1977[4] because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way and is obscured by galactic dust. The Circinus Galaxy is a Type II Seyfert galaxy and is one of the closest known active galaxies to the Milky Way, though it is probably …show more content…

Resembling a swirling witch 's cauldron of glowing vapors, the black hole-powered core of a nearby active galaxy appears in this colorful NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy lies 13 million light-years away in the southern constellation Circinus.
This galaxy is designated a type 2 Seyfert, a class of mostly spiral galaxies that have compact centers and are believed to contain massive black holes. Seyfert galaxies 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 phenomenal speeds. Astronomers studying the Circinus galaxy are seeing evidence of a powerful AGN at the center of this galaxy as well.

Circinus is a nearby spiral galaxy only 4 degrees below the Galactic plane. It was found while inspecting a Schmidt plate and shortly afterwards observed in HI with the Parkes 64-m telescope. Freeman et al. (1977) measured a half-width of at least 32 arcmin x 15 arcmin for the HI extent of Circinus, much larger than the optical diameter (about 10 arcmin) of the galaxy. Jones et al. (1996, in prep.) and Koribalski & Whiteoak (1996) only recently mapped Circinus with several configurations of the ATCA; a few preliminary results are presented