Hubble Views Z 229-15 – An Intriguing Active Galaxy In The Constellation Lyra
Z 229-15
NASA
This luminous image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows Z 229-15, a celestial object that lies about 390 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.
Z 229-15 is one of those interesting celestial objects defined as several different things: sometimes as an active galactic nucleus (an AGN); sometimes as a quasar; and sometimes as a Seyfert galaxy. Which of these is Z 229-15 really?
The answer is that it is all these things all at once, because these three definitions have significant overlap. Classification in astronomy can be a challenge!
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Barth, R. Mushotzky
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