Black Hole Fires at Neighboring Galaxy

Chandra_381_1024

chandra_381 December 17th, 2007

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/D.Evans et al.; Optical/UV: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/VLA/CfA/D.Evans et al., STFC/JBO/MERLIN

3C321 is a so-called radio galaxy because it belongs to a class of galaxies known to have strong radio emission. Many radio galaxies have powerful jets blasting out of their cores. When astronomers looked at this object, however, they saw something very unusual. They found that the jet from 3C321 appears to be striking another galaxy only about 21,000 light years away. At this distance, less than that between the Earth and the center of the Milky Way, the galaxy being blasted could be experiencing significant disruptions. By combining data from Chandra, Hubble, and the Very Large Array, astronomers are examining the effects of this violent eruption from one galaxy to another.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/3c321/

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
3C321
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Galaxy > Activity > AGN
Galaxy > Grouping > Pair

Distance

Universescale3
1,400,000,000 light years
Chandra_381_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 15h 31m 43.3s
DEC = 24° 4’ 16.8”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CW
Field of View
0.4 x 0.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Serpens

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 826.7 pm
Red Hubble (STIS) Ultraviolet (Near-UV) 185.0 nm
Yellow Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (OIII) 533.0 nm
Yellow Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (R-band) 702.0 nm
Blue MERLIN (MERLIN) Radio (1.4GHz) 200.0 mm
Blue VLA (VLA) Radio (1.4GHz) 200.0 mm
Spectrum_xray2
Purple
Red
Yellow
Yellow
Blue
Blue
Chandra_381_1280
×
ID
381
Subject Category
C.5.1.7.   C.5.3.2.   C.5.5.1.  
Subject Name
3C321
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/D.Evans et al.; Optical/UV: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/VLA/CfA/D.Evans et al., STFC/JBO/MERLIN
Release Date
2007-12-17
Lightyears
1,400,000,000
Redshift
1,400,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/3c321/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Hubble, Hubble, Hubble, MERLIN, VLA
Instrument
ACIS, STIS, WFPC2, WFPC2, MERLIN, VLA
Color Assignment
Purple, Red, Yellow, Yellow, Blue, Blue
Band
X-ray, Ultraviolet, Optical, Optical, Radio, Radio
Bandpass
-, Near-UV, OIII, R-band, 1.4GHz, 1.4GHz
Central Wavelength
0.8267, 185, 533, 702, 2e8, 2e8
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
232.93060302700, 24.07133293150
Reference Dimension
3600.00, 2627.00
Reference Pixel
978.50818102080, 2216.95367789558
Scale
-0.00000198777, 0.00000198777
Rotation
-0.08634360806
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.0 revision 213+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
3c321.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-26T13:52:10-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
1,400,000,000 light years

Providers | Sign In