Sunny Priyan
Hubble's image of IC 5063, 156 million light-years away, showcases bright rays and dark shadows from its supermassive black hole's blazing core.
Astronomers suggest that a ring of dusty material surrounding the black hole may be casting its shadow into space.
This light and shadow interplay occurs when the black hole's radiation strikes the dust ring hidden within the core.
Light streams through gaps in the ring, creating the brilliant cone-shaped rays. Denser patches in the disk block some of the light, casting long, dark shadows through the galaxy.
This phenomenon is similar to sunlight piercing our Earthly clouds at sunset, creating a mixture of bright rays and dark shadows formed by beams of light scattered by the atmosphere.
The bright rays and dark shadows appearing in IC 5063 are happening on a vastly larger scale, shooting across at least 36,000 light-years.