File:Circinus.galaxy.750pix.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- active galactic nucleus
- Named after
- Carl Keenan Seyfert
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Seyfert galaxies
- topic's main category
- Category:Seyfert galaxies
- described by source
- Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~24 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Circinus Galaxy, a Type II Seyfert galaxy
Seyfert galaxies are one of the two largest groups of active galaxies, along with quasar host galaxies. They have quasar-like nuclei (very luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation that are outside of our own galaxy) with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, their host galaxies are clearly detectable.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Seyfert galaxy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.