The glowing heart of this galaxy is called the active galactic nucleus.

Seen at the center of this #HubbleClassic image, it is powered by a supermassive black hole and glows brightly across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

NGC 5033 is located about 40 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. It shares many similar features with our home galaxy, the Milky Way: NGC 5033 is also about 100,000 light-years across and has spiral arms dotted with blue spots of ongoing star formation.

Its relative proximity to Earth makes it an ideal target for astronomers to study its active galactic core in detail.

Image description:

Close-up image of a spiral galaxy. A bright core is seen at the edge, with spiral arms surrounding it. These arms are filled with dark brown dust and hazy blue star formations.

 

Image credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA