IC 3639, a galaxy with an active galactic nucleus, is seen in this image combining data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory. This galaxy contains an example of a supermassive black hole hidden by gas and dust. Researchers analyzed NuSTAR data from this object and compared them with previous observations from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Japanese-led Suzaku satellite. The findings from NuSTAR, which is more sensitive to higher energy X-rays than these observatories, confirm the nature of IC 3639 as an active galactic nucleus that is heavily obscured, and intrinsically much brighter than observed. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21087

NGC 1448, a galaxy with an active galactic nucleus, is seen in this image combining data from the Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey in the optical range and NuSTAR in the X-ray range. This galaxy contains an example of a supermassive black hole hidden by gas and dust. X-ray emissions from NGC 1448, as seen by NuSTAR and Chandra, suggests for the first time that, like IC 3639 in PIA21087, there must be a thick layer of gas and dust hiding the active black hole in this galaxy from our line of sight. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21086