High-Energy Activity Heats Up the Whirlpool

Chandra_129_1024

chandra_129 July 2nd, 2002

Credit: NASA/CXC/U.Md/A.Wilson et al.

Chandra's image highlights the energetic central regions of the two interacting galaxies that are collectively called the Whirlpool Galaxy. A large number of point-like X-ray sources due to black holes and neutron stars can also be seen. The inset shows an expanded image of the central region of the larger galaxy, NGC 5194. Extending to the north and south of the bright nucleus are clouds of multimillion degree gas that are thought to be heated by high-velocity jets produced near a supermassive black hole in the nucleus of the galaxy. On the lower left is a faint source of X-rays produced by a shock wave from a rare type of supernova that was observed to explode in 1994.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0158/

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
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) NGC 5194 NGC 5195
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Grouping > Pair
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Supernova

Distance

Universescale2
30,000,000 light years
Chandra_129_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 29m 57.8s
DEC = 47° 13’ 6.0”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
10.0 x 10.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Canes Venatici

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Orange Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Orange
Chandra_129_1280
×
ID
129
Subject Category
C.5.5.1   C.5.1.1   C.3.1.8  
Subject Name
Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), NGC 5194, NGC 5195
Credits
NASA/CXC/U.Md/A.Wilson et al.
Release Date
2002-07-02
Lightyears
30,000,000
Redshift
30,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0158/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Orange
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2001-06-23T18:47:13
Integration Time
27150
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
202.4906498, 47.2183407, 202.4695536, 47.1953316
Reference Dimension
2100.0, 2100.0, 1709.0, 1650.0
Reference Pixel
1051.0, 1051.0, 855.5, 826.0
Scale
7.92105e-05, 7.921051e-05, 1.57829e-05, 1.5782879e-05
Rotation
-0.01
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
0158_xray_comp.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-27T16:36:08-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
30,000,000 light years

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