chandra_336 November 2nd, 2007
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. Waterloo/B.McNamara; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/Univ. Waterloo/B.McNamara; Radio: NRAO/Ohio Univ./L.Birzan et al.
This composite image contains three views of the galaxy cluster MS 0735.6+7421. The optical view from the Hubble Space Telescope shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. The Chandra X-ray Observatory finds diffuse, nearly 50-million-degree gas (blue) that permeates the space between the galaxies. The X-ray data show enormous holes, or cavities, in the gas that are filled with charged particles spiraling around magnetic field lines, which also emit radio waves (red) that are detected by the Very Large Array. The cavities were created by jets of charged particles ejected at nearly light speed from a supermassive black hole a billion times the Sun's mass in the bright central galaxy.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/ms0735/
Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA
Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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