This galaxy has a fairly large reservoir of neutral hydrogen containing on the order of a billion solar masses (M☉), but it is only undergoing a low rate of new star formation. Hence, the inner star formation of the galaxy is fairly old; roughly ten billion years on average. The neutral hydrogen is arranged in two ring-like structures, with the outer ring having nine times the mass of the inner. In the central region there is around 2.5×107M☉ of molecular hydrogen, plus dust structures within 980 ly (300 pc) of the nucleus. The gas in the outer disk may have been accreted from the inter-galactic medium, or captured during a close encounter with a dwarf galaxy.[11]
The nucleus of the galaxy contains a low-ionization nuclear emission-line region of type 1.9. This is being generated by a supermassive black hole of an estimated (6±1)×107M☉. An influx of gas of around 2×10−2M☉/yr is sufficient to explain the measured X-ray luminosity. The time-varying emissions from the region are perhaps best explained by an infalling red supergiant star that is losing mass to the black hole along a contrail.[12]
^ abErwin, Peter; Debattista, Victor P. (June 2013), "Peanuts at an angle: detecting and measuring the three-dimensional structure of bars in moderately inclined galaxies", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 431 (4): 3060–3086, arXiv:1301.0638, Bibcode:2013MNRAS.431.3060E, doi:10.1093/mnras/stt385, S2CID54653263.
^Skrutskie, Michael F.; Cutri, Roc M.; Stiening, Rae; Weinberg, Martin D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Carpenter, John M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Capps, Richard W.; Chester, Thomas; Elias, Jonathan H.; Huchra, John P.; Liebert, James W.; Lonsdale, Carol J.; Monet, David G.; Price, Stephan; Seitzer, Patrick; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Fullmer, Linda; Hurt, Robert L.; Light, Robert M.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Tam, Robert; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Wheelock, Sherry L. (February 1, 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi:10.1086/498708. ISSN0004-6256. S2CID18913331.