A Black Hole Slingshot?

Chandra_456_1024

chandra_456 June 30th, 2010

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/F.Civano et

Evidence for a recoiling black hole has been found using data from Chandra (colored blue in this composite image), Hubble (gold), XMM-Newton, and several ground-based telescopes. This black hole kickback was caused either by a slingshot effect produced in a triple black hole system, or from the effects of gravitational waves produced after two supermassive black holes merged a few million years earlier. Of the 2,600 X-ray sources found in this survey, only CID-42 coincides with two very close, compact optical sources. In this image, the two sources are seen in the HST data, but they are too close for Chandra to resolve separately.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2010/cid42/

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
CID-42
Subject - Distant Universe
Galaxy > Activity > AGN
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole

Distance

Universescale3
3,920,000,000 light years
Chandra_456_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 10h 0m 54.1s
DEC = 1° 57’ 42.4”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
0.5 x 0.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Sextans

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Yellow Hubble (ACS) Optical (near-IR) 814.0 nm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Yellow
Blue
Chandra_456_1280
×
ID
456
Subject Category
D.5.3.2   D.5.4.6  
Subject Name
CID-42
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/F.Civano et
Release Date
2010-06-30
Lightyears
3,920,000,000
Redshift
0.359
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2010/cid42/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble, Chandra
Instrument
ACS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Yellow, Blue
Band
Optical, X-ray
Bandpass
near-IR, X-ray
Central Wavelength
814, 0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
150.2253560, 1.9617645
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 2400.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 1201.0
Scale
3.47378e-06, 3.4737814e-06
Rotation
0.04
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
cid42.tif
Metadata Date
2011-12-02
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
3,920,000,000 light years

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