The anomalous arms of M 106

This video rotates around an artist’s impression of M 106, showing how the ‘anomalous arms’ of hot gas are structured. The jets powered by matter falling into the black hole at the centre of the galaxy are inclined compared to the plane of the galaxy. These disrupt the gas within the galaxy’s disc, heating it up and pushing it out of the plane of the galaxy, arching away from the jets. Hubble’s image of M 106 clearly shows the arching red gaseous arms, though the jets coming from the galaxy’s centre are not visible.