A supermassive black hole sits at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 1097, a mass of stars surrounded by a ring of dust.

NGC 1097 sits about 45 million light-years from Earth toward the constellation Fornax – the Furnace – in the southern sky. In this color composite view, the galaxy’s central regions spans 5,500 light-years and the field of view is less than 0.03 percent of the full moon.

Astronomers used the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope and its NACO advanced optics system to generate this image, which shows about 300 star-forming regions along the ring of dust circling the galaxy.

NGC 1097’s active galactic nucleus, the bright central source likely holds its supermassive black hole. The black hole’s presence is suggested by the curling, spiral pattern of the material in the galaxy’s innermost 300 light-years. A complex central network of filamentary structures spiral down the galaxy’s maw, astronomers said.

-- SPACE.com Staff

Credit: NACO/VLT.