Description:

25/10/09 - 05:57 GMT

Liverpool Telescope

Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias

Here we have a barred spiral galaxy, known to its friends as NGC 4051. The bright knobbly areas you can see in the spiral arms of the galaxy are due to star-birth regions that contain hot young stars. NGC 4051 is thought to contain a supermassive black hole.