Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/D.Patnaude et al, Optical: ESO/VLT, Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech

This image shows a supernova, known as SN 1979C, within the galaxy M100 that may contain the youngest known black hole in our cosmic neighborhood. In this composite, Chandra's X-rays are colored gold, while optical data from ESO's Very Large Telescope are shown in red, green, and blue, and infrared data from Spitzer are red. An amateur astronomer first noted this supernova in 1979. Data from Chandra and other telescopes taken since 1995 indicate that SN 1979C may the nearest example where the birth of a black hole has been observed.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2010/sn1979c/

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

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