The Hubble Telescope observed Z 229-15, a space formation that, at first glance, looks like an ordinary galaxy, but, in fact, cannot be fitted into any cosmic classification exactly. The image was released by the European Space Agency and reveals what could be a galaxy, but it could also be an active galactic nucleus, or even a quasar — among other possibilities.
Object Z 229-15 is 390 million light-years from Earth and, as you saw above, can fit into several classifications. For example: it is, in fact, a group of stars gravitationally bound together, which allows you to describe it as a galaxy. Meanwhile, it is — and contains — an active galactic nucleus, an extremely bright region at its center due to the presence of a supermassive black hole there.
The light does not come from the black hole itself, but from the matter that forms a disk around it; this disk is extremely hot and emits energy at different wavelengths, which makes the region bright. Ah, Z 229-15 can also be considered a quasar, a specific type of active galactic nucleus. To fit this definition, it needs to be extremely bright and far from Earth — which it also is.
Most quasars are so bright that they obscure the view of the galaxy’s stars, but this is not the case for Z 229-15. As the stars are visible in the image, the galaxy can be classified as belonging to the Seyfert type. So we can say that Z 229-15 is a Seyfert galaxy that contains a quasar and that consequently has an active galactic nucleus.
Therefore, we have here a spatial and special object that is “everything everywhere at the same time”, as in the title of the multi-category winner of the Oscar 2023.
Source: ESA Hubble
