A Black Hole in Medusa's Hair

Chandra_420_1024

chandra_420 March 11th, 2009

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Iowa/P.Kaaret et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/Univ of Iowa/P.Kaaret et al.

This image of NGC 4194 is a composite of X-rays from Chandra (blue) and optical light data from Hubble (orange). Located above the center of the galaxy, the "hair" of the Medusa is a tidal tail formed by a collision between galaxies. The bright X-ray source found on the left side of Medusa's hair is a black hole. A recent study of the Medusa galaxy and nine other galaxies measured the correlation between the formation of stars and the production of X-ray binaries. These X-ray binaries appear as the bright blue point-like sources in this image of Medusa.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/medusa/

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 4194
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Activity > Starburst
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Black Hole

Distance

Universescale3
110,000,000 light years
Chandra_420_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 14m 13.3s
DEC = 54° 31’ 21.6”
Orientation
North is 17.9° CCW
Field of View
2.8 x 2.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Chandra_420_1280
×
ID
420
Subject Category
C.5.3.3   C.5.1.7   C.3.1.10  
Subject Name
NGC 4194
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Iowa/P.Kaaret et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/Univ of Iowa/P.Kaaret et al.
Release Date
2009-03-11
Lightyears
110,000,000.0
Redshift
110,000,000.0
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/medusa/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Blue
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
183.555299463, 54.5226788794
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 2404.0
Reference Pixel
701.902976211, 1313.06187732
Scale
-1.963913e-05, 1.963913e-05
Rotation
17.8584914695
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.0 revision 213+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
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
medusa.tif
Metadata Date
2012-08-13T23:09:50-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
110,000,000 light years

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