Chandra Pinpoints Edge Of Accretion Disk Around Black Hole

Chandra_1555_1024

chandra_1555 December 5th, 2007

Credit: NASA/CfA/J.McClintock & M.Garcia

This Chandra X-ray Observatory image is a spectrum of a black hole, which is similar to the colorful spectrum of sunlight produced by a prism. These data reveal that a flaring black hole source has an accretion disk that stops much farther out than some theories predict. Scientists theorize that the accretion disk is truncated there as the material erupts into a hot bubble of gas before taking its final plunge into the black hole. This provides a better understanding of how energy is released when matter spirals into a black hole.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/xtej1118/

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
XTE J1118+480
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Black Hole
Star > Grouping > Binary

Distance

Universescale1
5,000 light years
Chandra_1555_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 11h 18m 11.8s
DEC = 48° 2’ 10.7”
Orientation
North is 75.3° CCW
Field of View
23.9 x 18.7 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) -
Chandra_1555_1280
×
ID
1555
Subject Category
B.3.1.10   B.3.6.1  
Subject Name
XTE J1118+480
Credits
NASA/CfA/J.McClintock & M.Garcia
Release Date
2007-12-05
Lightyears
5,000
Redshift
5,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/xtej1118/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
Start Time
2000-04-18T18:16:02
Integration Time
27830
Dataset ID
1701
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
169.5491244, 48.0362949
Reference Dimension
2224.0, 1742.0
Reference Pixel
1113.0, 872.0
Scale
0.000179166, 0.00017916607
Rotation
75.29
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
012138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
xtej1118_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-27T16:23-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
5,000 light years

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