chandra_595 April 30th, 2015
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/B.Luo et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
A new study of 51 distant quasars using Chandra reveals a population of black holes that consume excessive amounts of matter. The artist's illustration shows how a thick, donut-shaped disk around the black hole blocks a substantial amount of the X-rays that would otherwise escape the system. The important implication of these "thick-disk" quasars is that they may harbor black holes growing at an extraordinarily rapid rate. Three of the quasars in the study are included as Chandra images below the illustration.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/3quasars/
Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA
Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
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