Circinus Galaxy Center (Artist's Concept)

This artist’s concept depicts the central engine of the Circinus galaxy.

At the center is the supermassive black hole, shown as a bright, compact core. You don’t see the black hole itself, but the intense glow from material heating up as it spirals inward. Surrounding the center is a thick, donut-shaped disk of gas and dust (the torus). In Circinus, this torus, about 16 light-years across, is optically dense, meaning visible light can’t penetrate.

The illustration emphasizes that this dusty structure is brightest close to the black hole, matching the newest finding from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that most of the light is coming from hot dust feeding the black hole rather than being blown away.

The narrow, bright beams shooting outward represent jets, streams of energized material launched perpendicular to the disk.

The soft, hazy glow around everything represents the surrounding galaxy and diffuse material.