OT: Whirlpools in Space?

Check out the following picture of M106. Yeah, I took that with my 4.5" DS reflector . It's actually a picture I downloaded from Astronomy Picture of the Day (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html). I sometimes use them as my background on my computer screen. But here's the thing: the blurb on the website indicates that M106 is a Seyfert type galaxy, which has a very bright core that is supposedly powered by a massive black hole.

If that is the case, then could the spiral arms of these galaxies (and perhaps others) be explained by the rotational effect of matter being pulled in towards the core by the overwhelming gravitational power of the central black hole? Could we, in fact, be looking at a vast celestial drain? Compare the picture to water going down the drain in your sink. Are they not similar? Is the Whirlpool galaxy (M51) exactly that?

If this is in fact the case, then can we assume that the galaxy in question is rotating clockwise?

Can such a hypothesis be tested, or is the rotational period of galaxies so long that their movement escapes detection?

Just some thoughts. I know it's off-topic, but I couldn't help but be intrigued by this picture and what it seems to suggest.

Clear nights ... dark sites,
Darren

Attached Image:

There is a lot of speculation about black holes being the original building blocks of galaxies but the rotation of a galaxy (say 100K LY in diameter) is going to be powered by the gravitational mass of itself. Even a billion solar mass black hole is going to have limited reach gravitationally, as gravity falls off with the square of the distance. It does look like a drain but remember even a billion solar mass black hole is less than the size of our solar system and would be a microscopic spec in your photograph.

Daryl

Clockwise????
As seen from which direction?

Darren,

From what I understand, there is pretty much the same amount of matter everywhere in a spiral galaxy. However, there is a pressure wave rolling around the spiral galaxy that causes the formation of bright new stars. Those bright new stars are visible, where the rest of the matter is not. That is why the galaxy looks like a spiral.

It is not as if the matter is really spiraling anywhere.

(Imagine the motion of a wave through water. The water may rise up and down, but it really does not move much laterally.)

Alex

Black holes are not the cause of galactic rotation (see http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=150 ). Whether the rotation is modified by dark matter or MOND is still a matter of debate (see http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_rotation_problem ). Information on density waves, the apparent cause of spiral arms, is available at http://www-astronomy.mps.ohio-state.edu/~depoy/courses/lecture.notes/spirals.html and http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=0008A68A-8C7F-1C72-9EB7809EC588F2D7

Dave Mitsky