Number 85 (Story #1), June 19, 1992 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein AN X-SHAPED OBJECT at the heart of galaxy M51 may be the presumed dust ring that, according to some theories, should surround a black hole. Holland C. Ford of Johns Hopkins released two Hubble Space Telescope photos at last week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Columbus, Ohio; one reveals the dark X astride the nucleus of M51, a galaxy seen nearly face-on from Earth; the other reveals two oppositely-directed conical beams of radiation issuing from the galactic core. Because the ring's orientation (in this case, oddly, tipped perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy) may well determine how much and what kind of radiation reaches us, the detailed study of this kind of doughnut-shaped ring may lead to a more unified classification scheme for galaxies. (Science News, 13 June 1992.)