NGC 5938 is a nearby barred spiral galaxy located at a distance of ~26 mega-parsecs. Despite its regular spiral appearance, it shows extended radio emission consistent with a radio lobe or jet — features are rare among spiral galaxies. Such galaxies are often classified as spiral DRAGNs, a class that challenges the traditional view that large-scale radio jets occur only in elliptical hosts. These galaxies serve as valuable laboratories for studying the interplay of AGN feedback and disk galaxy evolution.

Zakir et al. present multi-wavelength observations of NGC 5938 including ASKAP EMU data. They detect extended radio emission extending outwards to the galactic axis, with a steep non-thermal spectral index indicative of synchrotron radiation from an AGN jet. Multi-wavelength data from The Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey 2 (DECaPS2), Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) provide further support for this interpretation. The image above shows multi-wavelength observations of NGC 5938: (a) ASKAP radio continuum image at 944 MHz, with a convolved beam size of 15 arcseconds, (b) DECaPS2 optical/NIR composite image, (c) WISE band-3 infrared image, (d) eROSITA 0.2–5.0 keV X-ray observation. Intriguingly, the brighter X-ray emission is largely adjacent to and enveloping the extended radio emission. This suggests that the radio jet, while extending at a significant angle to the galactic disk, is confined by the larger X-ray gas/halo and may indicate jet collimation and channelling effects.