NASA's Chandra Finds Milky Way's Black Hole May be Grazing on Asteroids

Chandra_501_1024

chandra_501 February 8th, 2012

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/F. Baganoff et al.; Illustrations: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

A new study provides a possible explanation of mysterious X-ray flares detected by Chandra over the period of several years. It suggests that there is a cloud around Sgr A* containing trillions of asteroids and comets, stripped from their parent stars. The flares occur when asteroids of six miles or larger in radius are consumed by the black hole. The panel on the left shows a very long Chandra observation of the region around the Sgr A*, while the three panels on the right are artist's impressions of the path that a doomed asteroid would take on its way to the black hole.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/sgra/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
Sagittarius A*
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Black Hole
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole

Distance

Universescale1
26,000 light years
Chandra_501_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 17h 46m 19.1s
DEC = -28° 51’ 50.8”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
7.4 x 7.4 arcminutes
Constellation
Sagittarius

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 467.9 pm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 310.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 195.3 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_501_1280
×
ID
501
Subject Category
B.3.1.10   B.5.4.6  
Subject Name
Sagittarius A*
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/F. Baganoff et al.; Illustrations: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
Release Date
2012-02-08
Lightyears
26,000
Redshift
26,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/sgra/
Type
Collage
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
-, -, -
Central Wavelength
0.4679, 0.31, 0.1953
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
266.5795983, -28.8641020
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
3.42308e-05, 3.42308e-05
Rotation
-0.0
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
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
sgra.tif
Metadata Date
2012-12-14T12:12:25-05:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
26,000 light years

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