Colossal Hot Cloud Envelopes Colliding Galaxies

Chandra_539_1024

chandra_539 April 30th, 2013

Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/E.Nardini et al); Optical (NASA/STScI)

Scientists have used Chandra to make a detailed study of an enormous cloud of hot gas enveloping two large, colliding galaxies in the system known as NGC 6240. This unusually large reservoir of gas contains as much mass as 10 billion Suns, spans about 300,000 light years, radiates at a temperature of more than 7 million degrees, and glows in X-rays (purple). The Chandra data have been combined with optical data from the Hubble, which show long tidal tails from the merging galaxies, extending to the right and bottom of the image.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/ngc6240/

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
NGC 6240
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole

Distance

Universescale3
330,000,000 light years
Chandra_539_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 16h 52m 59.0s
DEC = 2° 24’ 5.1”
Orientation
North is 75.0° CCW
Field of View
3.1 x 2.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Ophiuchus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (I-band) 814.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFPC2) Optical -
Blue Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (B-band) 435.0 nm
Purple Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1w
Red
Blue
Purple
Chandra_539_1280
×
ID
539
Subject Category
C.5.4.6  
Subject Name
NGC 6240
Credits
X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/E.Nardini et al); Optical (NASA/STScI)
Release Date
2013-04-30
Lightyears
330,000,000
Redshift
330,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/ngc6240/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble, Hubble, Hubble, Chandra
Instrument
WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue, Purple
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical, X-ray
Bandpass
I-band, -, B-band, X-ray
Central Wavelength
814, -, 435, 0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
253.2459611, 2.4014250
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3000.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1501.0
Scale
1.43373e-05, 1.4337314e-05
Rotation
74.99
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
ngc6240.tif
Metadata Date
2013-04-30T11:09:38-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
330,000,000 light years

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