Vast Hot Gas Plume May Be A Passing Attraction

Chandra_112_1024

chandra_112 January 29th, 2002

Credit: NASA/IoA/J.Sanders & A.Fabian

The Chandra image of the Centaurus galaxy cluster shows a long plume-like feature resembling a twisted sheet. The plume is some 70,000 light years in length and has a temperature of about 10 million degrees Celsius. It is several million degrees cooler than the hot gas around it, as seen in this temperature-coded image in which the sequence red, yellow, green, blue indicates increasing temperatures. The plume of relatively cool gas contains a mass comparable to 1 billion suns and may have been produced by the movement of the central galaxy through the cluster.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0146/

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
Centaurus Cluster
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Grouping > Cluster

Distance

Universescale3
170,000,000 light years
Chandra_112_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 48m 49.3s
DEC = -41° 18’ 35.8”
Orientation
North is 7.0° CW
Field of View
3.0 x 3.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Centaurus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) -
Yellow Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) -
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) -
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) -
Spectrum_xray1w
Chandra_112_1280
×
ID
112
Subject Category
C.5.5.3  
Subject Name
Centaurus Cluster
Credits
NASA/IoA/J.Sanders & A.Fabian
Release Date
2002-01-29
Lightyears
170,000,000
Redshift
170,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0146/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, yellow, green, blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Central Wavelength
-, -, -, -
Start Time
2000-05-22T00:33:17, 2000-05-22T00:33:17, 2000-05-22T00:33:17, 2000-05-22T00:33:17
Integration Time
32120, 32120, 32120, 32120
Dataset ID
504, 504, 504, 504
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
192.2055890, -41.3099387
Reference Dimension
2100.0, 2100.0
Reference Pixel
1051.0, 1051.0
Scale
2.36952e-05, 2.3695181e-05
Rotation
-7.01
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
0146_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2011-08-09T11:59:37-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
170,000,000 light years

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