Messier 106 (also known as M106 or NGC 4258) is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici, lies at a distance of 23.7 million light years from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 9,1.
At its heart, as in most spiral galaxies, is a supermassive black hole, but this one is particularly active. Unlike the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, which pulls in wisps of gas only occasionally, Messier 106’s black hole is actively gobbling up material. As the gas spirals towards the black hole, it heats up and emits powerful radiation. Part of the emission from the centre of Messier 106 is produced by a process that is somewhat similar to that in a laser – although here the process produces bright microwave radiation.
The galaxy has another startling feature; i.e., instead of two spiral arms, it appears to have four. Unlike the normal arms, these two extra arms are made up of hot gas rather than stars, and their origin remained unexplained until recently. Astronomers think that these, like the microwave emission from the galactic centre, are caused by the black hole at Messier 106’s heart, and so are a totally different phenomenon from the galaxy’s normal, star-filled arms.
Messier 106 may have a companion galaxy, the spiral galaxy NGC 4217 (along with the 3 bright stars). NGC 4217 is about 80,000 light years across and appears almost perfectly edge on.
Source: Messier 106 and surroundings — AAPOD2.COMMessier 106 is the largest member of the Canes Venatici II Group (CVn II Group), a group of galaxies in the Local Supercluster, located at a distance of about 26.1 million light years from Earth.
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