The "X" is due to absorption by dust and marks the exact position of a black hole which may have a mass equivalent to one-million stars like the sun. The darkest bar may be an edge-on dust ring which is 100 light-years in diameter. The edge-on torus not only hides the black hole and accretion disk from being viewed directly from earth, but also determines the axis of a jet of high-speed plasma and confines radiation from the accretion disk to a pair of oppositely directed cones of light, which ionize gas caught in their beam. The second bar of the "X" could be a second disk seen edge on, or possibly rotating gas and dust in MS1 intersecting with the jets and ionization cones. The size of the image is 1100 light-years. That's the scientific explanation. It may also be the most stunning reminder to us all of who created this entire galaxy and the vast cosmos in which it dwells. And at the centre of this celestial wonder watching over our small cul-de-sac of the heavens is a cross. You decide...
"Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars..." Psalm 148:3
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