One of the most curious of Seyfert's original sample of galaxies remains NGC 1275, which has some of the properties associated with Seyfert nuclei, radio galaxies, and even BL Lacertae objects. One of its oddest properties is this extensive system of ionized gas filaments, which has variously been interpreted as evidence for an explosive outflow, slow inflow as gas in the surrounding cluster of galaxies cools, and even for heating by a high-speed collision with another galaxy. This image provided a wide-angle contrast to the following HST view.
This CCD image was obtained using the 4-m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory with the Cryogenic Camera, through a narrow-band filter emphasizing the emission line at the redshift of NGC 1275 itself (thus rejecting gas in the foreground high-velocity system). The field of view is 2.6 arcminutes across. Details were provided in Keel, AJ 88, 1579 (1983).