Galactic Fender-Bender In Virgo

Chandra_94_1024

chandra_94 September 3rd, 2003

Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Machacek et al.

Chandra's image shows multimillion degree gas in the two galaxies. In NGC 4438,

the large galaxy in the lower part of the image, filaments of hot gas have been pulled to the

right from the main part of the galaxy. X-ray, optical, and radio observations indicate that

these two galaxies bumped into each other about 100 million years ago. During this glancing

encounter, gravitational tidal forces tugged at the gas and stars on the outer parts of the

galaxies. NGC 4438 was damaged in the collision, but the hot gas will probably fall back

into the disk of the galaxy in a few hundred million years. NGC 4435 (upper right), being less massive than NGC 4438, proved to be less crash worthy and appears to have lost most of its hot gas to intergalactic space.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/ngc4438/

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 4438 and NGC 4435

Distance

Universescale2
50,000,000 light years
Chandra_94_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 27m 42.4s
DEC = 13° 1’ 26.0”
Orientation
North is 0.4° CW
Field of View
6.6 x 9.2 arcminutes
Constellation
Virgo

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Soft X-ray) 1.37916666666667 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Medium X-ray) 620.6 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Hard X-ray) 292.1 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_94_1280
×
ID
94
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 4438 and NGC 4435
Credits
NASA/CXC/M.Machacek et al.
Release Date
2003-09-03
Lightyears
5.0e7
Redshift
5.0e7
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/ngc4438/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
Soft X-ray, Medium X-ray, Hard X-ray
Central Wavelength
1.37916666666667, 0.620625, 0.292058823529412
Start Time
2002-01-29T17:23:49, 2002-01-29T17:23:49, 2002-01-29T17:23:49
Integration Time
25400, 25400, 25400
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
186.9266080, 13.0239006
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 3336.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 1669.0
Scale
4.57838e-05, 4.57838e-05
Rotation
-0.41
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
ngc4438_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-27T12:05:54-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
50,000,000 light years

Providers | Sign In