Black Holes in Elliptical Galaxy Point to Wild Youth

Chandra_160_1024

chandra_160 June 4th, 2002

Credit: NASA/CXC/UVa/C.Sarazin et al.

The Chandra image of this galaxy reveals diffuse hot gas dotted with many point-like sources that have been identified as black holes and neutron stars in binary star systems. X-radiation is emitted when material is pulled from a normal star and heated to extreme temperatures as it falls toward its black hole or neutron star companion. An unusually large number of the binary star X-ray sources in NGC 4697 are in "globular star clusters." This suggests that the extraordinarily dense environment of globular clusters may be a good place for black holes or neutron stars to capture a companion star.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/1140/

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

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

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 4697

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
40,000,000 light years
Chandra_160_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 48m 35.9s
DEC = -5° 48’ 2.5”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CCW
Field of View
4.2 x 3.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Pseudocolor
Chandra_160_1280
×
ID
160
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 4697
Credits
NASA/CXC/UVa/C.Sarazin et al.
Release Date
2002-06-04
Lightyears
40,000,000
Redshift
40,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/1140/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2000-01-15T16:31:44
Integration Time
39760
Dataset ID
784
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
192.1494868, -5.8006924
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 2235.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 1118.5
Scale
2.89485e-05, 2.8948486e-05
Rotation
0.05
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
1140_xray.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/1140/1140_xray.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-08-19
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
40,000,000 light years

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