At the center of the starburst rings is the Seyfert nucleus, the believed signature of a supermassive black hole that is accreting surrounding gas and dust. The detailed structure of this gas is seen as magenta-colored streamers extending towards the top of the image. In the center of the galaxy and within the inner starburst ring is a V-shaped structure of gas. The structure appears whitish-pink in this composite image, made up of four filters. This region, which is the projection of a three-dimensional cone extending from the nucleus to the galaxy's halo, contains gas that has been heated by radiation emitted by the accreting black hole.
Ultraviolet radiation emerging from the central source excites nearby gas causing it to glow.
The excited gas is beamed into the oppositely directed cones like two giant searchlights. Located near the plane of our own Milky Way Galaxy, the Circinus galaxy is partially hidden by intervening dust along our line of sight. As a result, the galaxy went unnoticed until about 25 years ago. The research team, led by Andrew S. Wilson of the University of Maryland, is using these visible light images along with near-infrared data to further understand the dynamics of this powerful galaxy. A Lockheed Martin Athena 1 will launch the Kodiak Star mission for NASA and the Air Force no sooner than Saturday from Kodiak Island, Alaska.