'Squid Galaxy': NGC 1068 in Cetus | Webb+VLA+Hubble+Chandra [Budget Alert]

'Squid Galaxy': NGC 1068 in Cetus | Webb+VLA+Hubble+Chandra [Budget Alert]

A new eye-catching compilation of images is being released that features data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory along with a host of other telescopes, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

NGC 1068 is a relatively nearby spiral galaxy containing a black hole at its center that is twice as massive as the Milky Way’s. Chandra shows a million-mile-per-hour wind is being driven from NGC 1068’s black hole and lighting up the center of the galaxy in X-rays.

X-rays from Chandra (blue), radio data from NSF’s VLA radio data (pink), and optical data from Hubble and Webb (yellow, grey and gold)

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is being canceled in NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request, along with 18 other active science missions. NASA's science budget is being reduced by nearly 50%. NASA's total budget will become the lowest since 1961, after accounting for inflation.

Contact your representatives in the United States Congress, House and Senate, to express your concerns about severe budget cuts at NASA:

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/

NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request (PDF): https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budget-request/

Image Description: This nearby spiral galaxy is viewed face-on with its tightly packed golden arms and faint purple clouds spiraling around a hazy core. There, million-mile-per-hour winds swirl around a glowing black hole.

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical/IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI (HST and JWST); Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt and N. Wolk
Release Date: Aug. 21, 2025

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