The Unfurling Spiral Arms of Galaxy NGC 3981 | Victor Blanco Telescope

The Unfurling Spiral Arms of Galaxy NGC 3981 | Victor Blanco Telescope

This unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Crater features a bright central core, where a supermassive black hole lies, surrounded by a disk of hot, young stars and spiral arms laced with streams of dust and more young stars. The irregular, outstretched shape of its arms is likely due to gravitational influence from an encounter with one of its galactic neighbors. NGC 3981 is a member of the NGC 4038 Group of galaxies. The NGC 4038 Group is a small component of the Virgo Supercluster, the immense collection of galaxies that hosts our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Distance: 65 million light years

The unfurling arms of NGC 3981 appear to dissolve right into the cosmos in this image captured by the DOE-built Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) NOIRLab. 

Credit: Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA

Image Processing: R. Colombari & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Release Date: June 19, 2024

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