Messier 77: Stunning image shows spiral galaxy’s brilliant heart shining bright

A spiral galaxy’s brilliant heart outshines everything within sight in a new picture from Nasa’s Webb Space Telescope.

The image depicts the Messier 77 galaxy 45 million light-years away in the Cetus, or whale, constellation.

A light year is about six trillion miles.

Messier 77 is appreciated among astronomers for its combination of relative proximity and spectacular features to study (Nasa via AP)

The galaxy’s active nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole that is eight million times more massive than the Sun.

Surrounding gas is sucked into a tight orbit around the black hole, becoming so hot that it radiates in the extreme.

Webb’s mid-infrared instrument captured the stunning details.

The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope has been photographing the cosmos since launching in 2021.