The “forbidden” light of a distant spiral galaxy shines brightly in a new image from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Located approximately 275 million light-years from Earth, the galaxy named MCG-01-24-014 has two distinct, well-defined spiral arms and an energetic, bright core known as the active galactic nucleus (AGN). The galaxy appears to be facing him; its arms form an almost perfectly circular shape.

MCG-01-24-014 is classified as a Type 2 Seyfert galaxy, one of the two largest groups of active galaxies known to scientists, along with quasars. Seyfert galaxies characteristically exhibit a bright core, but are more difficult to detect than quasars, whose incredibly bright AGNs can outshine any host galaxies they are in, according to a statement from the European Space Agency (ESA).

Seyfert galaxies can also be classified according to the intensity of light emitted from their active nuclei. Depending on the wavelengths or spectra of light, Seyfert galaxies are classified as type 1 or type 2. The latter emits spectral lines associated with so-called “forbidden” radiation, given that it should not exist according to certain rules of quantum physics.

“Understanding why light emitted from a galaxy might be considered forbidden will help understand why the spectra exist,” ESA officials said in a statement. said. “The spectra look that way because certain atoms and molecules absorb and emit light at very specific wavelengths very reliably.”

Electrons (tiny particles orbiting the atomic nucleus) lose or gain a certain amount of energy corresponding to a certain wavelength of light absorbed or emitted. However, some spectral lines of radiation are considered “forbidden” because they are observed in space but do not occur under normal conditions on Earth.

“Quantum physics is complex and some of the rules used to predict it use assumptions consistent with laboratory conditions on Earth,” ESA officials said in a statement. said. “According to these rules, this radiation is ‘prohibited’; It is unlikely to be ignored. “But in space, in the middle of an incredibly energetic galactic core, these assumptions no longer hold and the ‘forbidden’ light gets a chance to shine towards us.”

In fact, the bright light of MCG-01-24-014 shines brightly in the new Hubble photo taken with the telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). A spiral galaxy appears at the center of the image, with two large, bright foreground stars, one blue and one red, located just above the galaxy. Several more distant galaxies are scattered against the pitch black background of space. ESA published a new Hubble photo online on December 18.