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This handout image released by The European Southern Observatory (ESO) on February 16, 2022, shows a face-on view of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 77, captured with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope. - For the first time, astronomers have a detailed image of an active galactic nucleus, the structure of dust and gas surrounding a supermassive black hole, allowing a better understanding of the functioning of these objects which are among the most luminous in the Universe. The brightness of this nucleus largely eclipses that of the galaxy NGC1068, also called M77, at the centre of which it is. Discovered more than two centuries ago, it is only now that astronomers led by Violeta Gamez-Rosa, from the Dutch University of Leiden, unveil its core in great detail, in a study published in Nature. (Photo by European Southern Observatory / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS