Cluster's Gain is Galaxy's Loss

Chandra_102_1024

chandra_102 October 1st, 2003

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/C. Jones, W. Forman, & S. Murray. Optical: Pal.Obs. DSS

This composite X-ray (blue)/optical (orange) image of M86 shows gas being swept

out of the galaxy to form a long tail more than 200,000 light years in length. M86 has been

pulled into the Virgo galaxy cluster and accelerated to a speed of about 3 million miles per

hour by the enormous combined gravity of dark matter, hot gas, and hundreds of galaxies

that comprise the cluster. The supersonic motion of the galaxy through the diffuse hot gas

produces pressure that is stripping gas from M86 and forming the spectacular tail.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/m86/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M86
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Lenticular

Distance

Universescale2
50,000,000 light years
Chandra_102_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 25m 53.7s
DEC = 13° 0’ 53.0”
Orientation
North is 26.9° CCW
Field of View
14.9 x 22.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Orange DSS (POSS2/UKSTUBlue) Optical (GG395) 395.0 nm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Orange
Blue
Chandra_102_1280
×
ID
102
Subject Category
C.5.1.3  
Subject Name
M86
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/C. Jones, W. Forman, & S. Murray. Optical: Pal.Obs. DSS
Release Date
2003-10-01
Lightyears
5e7
Redshift
5e7
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/m86/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
DSS, Chandra
Instrument
POSS2/UKSTUBlue, ACIS
Color Assignment
Orange, Blue
Band
Optical, X-ray
Bandpass
GG395, X-ray
Central Wavelength
395, 0.8267
Start Time
1988-04-11T05:52:00, 2000-04-07T07:37:28
Integration Time
3900, 14820
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
186.4739323, 13.0147233
Reference Dimension
1446.0, 2222.0
Reference Pixel
724.0, 1112.0
Scale
0.000171649, 0.00017164911
Rotation
26.90
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
m86_xrayopt.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-27T15:05:11-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
50,000,000 light years

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