Comet Enthusiast

Located at a distance of about 45 million light-years in the southern constellation Fornax (the Furnace), NGC 1097 is a relatively bright, barred spiral galaxy seen face-on. The galaxy is a moderate example of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN), whose emission is thought to arise from matter (gas and stars) falling into oblivion in a central black hole. Astronomers have been trying to understand for a long time how the matter is "gulped" down towards the black hole. Watching directly the feeding process requires very high spatial resolution at the centre of galaxies.