The Eye of Sauron

NGC 4151, sometimes called the Eye of Sauron, is an active Seyfert 1 galaxy in Canes Venatici and, at 39 million light-years away, is one of the closest galaxies to house a supermassive black hole, which shines brightly in X-rays.

At left and center, respectively, are Swift UVOT images in the optical (v, b, and u filters) and ultraviolet (uvw1, uvm2, and uvw2 filters). Note how the outlying spiral arms are more easily visible in the ultraviolet image. The panel at right shows X-ray observations (0.2-10 keV) from Swift's X-ray Telescope.