Hot Galactic Arms Point To Vicious Cycle

Chandra_183_1024

chandra_183 December 19th, 2001

Credit: NASA/SAO/CXC/C.Jones et al.

This Chandra image of NGC 4636 shows symmetric arms, or arcs, of 10 million degree gas extending 25,000 light years into a cloud of hot gas that surrounds the galaxy. The length and shape of the arms, along with their temperature which is hotter than the surrounding gas cloud, suggest that they are the leading edge of a galaxy-sized shock wave that is racing outward from the center of the galaxy at 700 kilometers per second. The initial outburst is thought to have been triggered by gas falling into a central massive black hole.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0144/

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 4636

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
50,000,000 light years
Chandra_183_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 42m 50.2s
DEC = 2° 41’ 10.5”
Orientation
North is 4.2° CW
Field of View
5.0 x 3.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Chandra_183_1280
×
ID
183
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 4636
Credits
NASA/SAO/CXC/C.Jones et al.
Release Date
2001-12-19
Lightyears
50,000,000
Redshift
50,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0144/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Blue
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2000-01-26T09:20:16
Integration Time
52383
Dataset ID
323
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
190.7090590, 2.6862401
Reference Dimension
1965.0, 1533.0
Reference Pixel
983.5, 767.5
Scale
4.27902e-05, 4.2790173e-05
Rotation
-4.18
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
0144_xray.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0144/0144_xray.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2012-08-22T12:59:10-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
50,000,000 light years

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