Chandra Sees Wealth Of Black Holes In Star-Forming Galaxies

Chandra_161_1024

chandra_161 June 5th, 2001

Credit: X-ray: NASA/SAO/CXC, Optical: ESO

The Chandra image of NGC 253 shows a plume of 5 million degree gas in the central region of the galaxy extending above and below the disk of the galaxy, along with point-like X-ray sources. The brightest of the point sources are much more powerful than similar sources in our galaxy, and are believed to be caused by binary star systems in which a massive black hole is pulling matter away from a companion star. The hot plume is caused by the high rate of formation and explosion of massive stars, which is characteristic of a starburst galaxy.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0012/

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

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

View Options View Options

Download Options Download Options

Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
NGC 253

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
8,000,000 light years
Chandra_161_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 0h 47m 33.1s
DEC = -25° 17’ 19.0”
Orientation
North is 0.3° CCW
Field of View
4.1 x 3.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Sculptor

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Grayscale ESO Optical -
Spectrum_xray1w
Pseudocolor
Chandra_161_1280
×
ID
161
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 253
Credits
X-ray: NASA/SAO/CXC, Optical: ESO
Release Date
2001-06-05
Lightyears
8,000,000
Redshift
8,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0012/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, ESO
Instrument
ACIS, -
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor, Grayscale
Band
X-ray, Optical
Bandpass
X-ray, -
Central Wavelength
0.8267, -
Start Time
1999-12-16T12:12:05, -
Integration Time
13986, -
Dataset ID
969, -
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
11.8880281, -25.2885992
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 2038.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 1020.0
Scale
2.84862e-05, 2.8486216e-05
Rotation
0.27
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
0012_xray_opt.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0012/0012_xray_opt.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-05-06T13:06:50-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
8,000,000 light years

Providers | Sign In

NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award is part of NASA’s Science Activation program, which strives to further enable NASA science experts and content into the learning environment more effectively and efficiently with learners of all ages.